Projects
An Ancestor's tale: 200 years of wealth inequality, persistence, and redistribution. KU Leuven
Social positions of children are not fully explained by talents and effort, but also by the social position of parents, grandparents, and even earlier generations. The role of income and education in explaining patterns of social mobility has often been studied, but those factors no longer seem able to sufficiently explain the remarkably low level of intergenerational social mobility attested by recent studies. The role of wealth has too ...
Inequality, consumption, and climate change policy: the demand side matters Ghent University
This research project studies the influence of inequality on an economy’s environmental impact and the implications of this influence for climate change mitigation policy. A key observation underlying this research project is that inequality influences a society's environmental impact through the effects of inequality on consumption: (1) inequality might induce increased positional consumption, and (2) low-income households tend to have ...
How is social inequality reproduced by grade retention? Examining implicit bias among teachers with regard to the decision whether to retain a student or not. Ghent University
Grade retention has been criticized because it reproduces existing social inequalities. Students with an ethnic minority status and/or an underprivileged socioeconomic background have a higher chance of being retained in comparison to their counterparts with similar school achievements. Grade retention can be problematic for the future academic career, as retainees have three to seven times less chance to obtain a degree in secondary ...
An Ancestor’s tale: 200 years of wealth inequality, persistence, and redistribution. KU Leuven
Social scientists have been interested in the study of inequality and social mobility for a long time. One of the most persistent ideas in historiography had been that since modernization, society had moved towards more openness, democratization and fluidity. But is this truly accurate? New studies are arguing that inequality is rising in most places while social mobility appears to be lower than previously expected and possibly declining. ...
Smart Farming methodology for efficient and sustainable cultivation of dragon fruit in Ecuador's Amazon: Pilot evaluation of the impact of technology on poverty and inequality reduction KU Leuven
This initiative proposes the implementation of precision agriculture for the intelligent, efficient, and sustainable production of dragon fruit in the Ecuadorian Amazon, Palora canton as case study. The project is motivated by the great appeal of this fruit in international markets due to its numerous health and nutritional properties. The growing interest in dragon fruit is part of the national plan to promote the export of non-traditional ...
Franqui research professor 2023: : theorizing precarity at the continuum between paid and unpaid work: implications for inequality in precarious work KU Leuven
The project will deepen into the understanding of precarity by developing a new theorization of precarious work at the continuum between paid and unpaid work, which breaks the traditional dichotomy in sociology of considering work as either paid (productive or waged) or unpaid (reproductive or unwaged). It will uncover the contradictions and paradoxes around both traditional (e.g. manufacturing, services) and emerging (i.e. digital ...
Social Protection, Inequality and Inclusive Growth (PSP 2023-2027) KU Leuven
The theme of the research package is ‘Social dialogue in informal economies’. Studies show that fostering social dialogue in settings with a substantial informal economy is more complex. There are legal and institutional barriers, next to challenges with the organising and mobilisation of workers and employers, as well as the practical implementation of the dialogue process. Three research questions will be explored:
1. What formal and ...
Social Protection, Inequality & Inclusive Growth. University of Antwerp
Beauty and Inequality Physical Appearance, Symbolic Boundaries and Social Dis/advantage in Five Global Cities KU Leuven
How does physical beauty contribute to social inequality? This innovative, multi-disciplinary compara- tive project aims to build a comprehensive new theory that explains how evaluations of physical appear- ance work, and how they re/produce durable inequalities in today’s media-saturated, service-based, consumer societies. It hypothesizes that 1. in contemporary societies beauty has become an important form of capital, for all genders, ...