Assessing grand narratives of economic inequality across time

Feinman, Gary M.; Cervantes Quequezana, Gabriela; Green, Adam; Lawrence, Dan; Munson, Jessica; Ortman, Scott; Petrie, Cameron; Thompson, Amy; Nicholas, Linda M.

Abstract

Inequality is a central focus of contemporary scholarship. How did it reach its current extent? Is inequality a natural consequence of modernization, scalar growth, and/or Malthusian forces? Or, were increases in degrees of economic inequality less linearly driven such that the factors that underpinned rises in the potential degrees of inequality were not necessarily realized? Drawing on a large global sample of house sizes compiled principally from archaeological contexts, we assess alternatives with broad analytical implications. For the past, as in the present, variance in the institutions in governance is advanced as one key factor with implications on the degree to which household wealth inequalities were manifest.

Citation

Feinman, G. M., Cervantes Quequezana, G., Green, A., Lawrence, D., Munson, J., Ortman, S., Petrie, C., Thompson, A., & Nicholas, L. M. (2025). Assessing grand narratives of economic inequality across time. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 122(16), Article e2400698121. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2400698121

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Feb 12, 2024
• Online Publication Date: Apr 14, 2025
• Publication Date: Apr 22, 2025
• Deposit Date: Apr 15, 2025
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 15, 2025
• Journal: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
• Print ISSN: 0027-8424
• Electronic ISSN: 1091-6490
• Publisher: National Academy of Sciences
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 122
• Issue: 16
• Article Number: e2400698121
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2400698121
• Keywords: Socioeconomic Factors, Humans, urbanism, governance, Archaeology, wealth, inequality, grand narratives
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/3790865
• Additional Information: Received: 2024-02-12; Accepted: 2024-06-12; Published: 2025-04-14