Statuskonkurrenzen und soziale Spaltungen. Zur Dynamik sozialer Ungleichheiten

In view of increased economic inequalities, modernisation theory fails to account for contemporary dynamics of social inequality. Based on an alternative narrative of marketisation, this article outlines how inequality dynamics evolve in “high inequality regimes”. The authors propose an analytical distinction between the dynamics of social segregation, leading to socio-economic as well as cultural and political closure of social class milieus, and the dy­namics of status competition within these milieus, leading to heterogeneous effects. The interplay of the two processes offers a perspective for explaining the prevailing lack of political action in face of inequalities that are generally regarded as being too high and a threat to social cohesion.