How people understand inequalities of wealth: WealthTalks Project

The IDCPPA at the University of Cape Town is taking on an exciting new internationally-collaborative research endeavor starting in 2023. Titled "WealthTalks," the multi-year project will investigate public discourse and understanding of wealth inequality across diverse populations.

Led by researchers at the Free University of Berlin and supported by funding from the Volkswagen Foundation, WealthTalks will involve in-depth qualitative research in five total countries over a four-year period. The UCT research team, under the Institute's leadership, will specifically focus their efforts on gathering and analyzing data from within South Africa and also neighboring Botswana.

Through methods like focus groups, interviews and discourse analysis, the goal is to uncover how everyday citizens in different social contexts talk about, perceive and make meaning of the unequal distribution of wealth within their national economies. By examining both formal talk as well as more informal conversations, the project aims to provide nuanced insights into popular perspectives.

Researchers also seek to understand how perceptions may vary depending on factors like socioeconomic class, gender, age or locality - urban versus rural areas. The cross-country collaboration further creates opportunities for illuminating similarities and differences in wealth inequality discourse internationally.

At the Institute, researchers express enthusiasm for contributing South African and Botswanan insights to this expansive new study. Its in-depth examination of societal wealth views is sure to generate thought-provoking findings with relevance both within and beyond the participating nations.