Inequality, ideology and colonialism in Thomas Piketty's work "Capital and Ideology"

• Grant number: 24/08763-8
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: September 01, 2024
• Status: Discontinued
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Political Science
• Principal Investigator: Hélio Alexandre da Silva
• Grantee: Eduarda Pereira Pires Barboza
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Humanas e Sociais (FCHS). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Franca. Franca , SP, Brazil
• Associated scholarship(s): 24/22690-3 - Beyong Piketty: A different perspective to social inequality., BE.EP.IC

Abstract

The increase in social inequality in the contemporary world is undeniable, both among countries and within domestic territories. Understanding how this inequality has been formed and structured, as well as how it continues to legitimize and sustain itself, is essential for effective and targeted measures to be taken in combating it. In this regard, in order to better understand this problem, the present research is guided by the following question: "What are the relationships between social inequality, ideology, and colonialism in the work Capital and Ideology (2019) by the French economist Thomas Piketty?" Therefore, the research will be divided into three moments: the first will seek to understand Piketty's definition of ideology and how it articulates, according to the author, with social inequality; the second moment intends to analyze specific cases in which the author shows how the relationship between ideology and inequality assists in the process of colonial domination; and finally, the third moment aims to present a critique, based on the works of Gurminder K. Bhambra and J. Holmwood, of Piketty's interpretation of the relationship between inequality, colonialism, and slavery.