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The Political Economy of Fortune and Misfortune
Prospects for Prosperity in Our Times
By Scott Timcke
Published
Jan 1, 2023Page count
208 pagesISBN
978-1529221756Dimensions
234 x 156 mmImprint
Bristol University PressPublished
Jan 1, 2023Page count
208 pagesISBN
978-1529221763Dimensions
234 x 156 mmImprint
Bristol University PressLuck greatly influences a person’s quality of life. Yet little of our politics looks at how institutions can amplify good or bad luck that widens social inequality. But societies can change their luck.
Too often debates about inequality focus on the accuracy of data or modeling while missing the greater point about ethics and exploitation. In the wake of growing disparity between the 1% and other classes, this book combines philosophical insights with social theory to offer a much-needed political economy of life chances.
Timcke advances new thought on the role luck plays in redistributive justice in 21st Century capitalism.
Scott Timcke is Research Associate at the Centre for Social Change at the University of Johannesburg. His research focuses on the transformations of race, class and technology during modernity.
Introduction
1. Luck, Liberty, and Equality
2. Reason, Dialectics, and Apologetics
3. Ideology, History, and Proceduralism
4. Hard Luck and The Problem of Radical Contingency
5. Uncertain Opportunities and Luck Egalitarianism
6. Value, Values, and Capital
7. Towards a Social Analysis of Institutional Luck
Conclusion