The Economic Other: Inequality in the American Political Imagination

Session Submission Type: Virtual Author meet critics

Session Description

Economic inequality is at a record high in the United States, but public demand for redistribution is not rising with it. In our recently published book, The Economic Other: Inequality in the American Political Imagination (University of Chicago Press, September 2020), we show that this paradox and other mysteries about class and US politics can be solved through a focus on social comparison. Powerful currents compete to propel attention up or down—toward the rich or the poor—pulling politics along in the wake.

Blending experiments, surveys, and descriptions people offer in their own words, our book reveals that when less-advantaged Americans compare with the rich, they become more accurate about their own status and want more from government. But American society is structured to prevent upward comparison. In an increasingly divided, anxious nation, opportunities to interact with the country’s richest are shrinking, and people prefer to compare to those below to feel secure. Even when comparison with the rich does occur, many lose confidence in their power to effect change.

The Economic Other demonstrates the varied paths through which cross-class social comparisons shape Americans’ sense of self, what we want, and what we believe we are capable of, and then lays bare the conditions that limit the political potential of these comparisons. The American context insulates people from cross-class contact and fills in the gaps with media-driven stereotypes. The American people avoid the upward contrasts that might foster support for redistribution because of deep and growing anxiety. And finally, the politics of inequality in America is one muted by the quiescence that arises when cross-class comparisons do happen. The result is a society where individual psychology and social context interact to generate a cycle of reinforcing inequality.

Sub Unit

• Division 55: Class and Inequality

Chair

• Nicholas Carnes Duke University

Presenters

• Meghan Condon Loyola University Chicago

• Amber Wichowsky Marquette University

• Jennifer L. Hochschild Harvard University

• James N. Druckman Northwestern University

• Matt Grossmann Michigan State University

• Eunji Kim Vanderbilt University