Equality Is a Struggle: Bulletins from the Front Line, 2021-2025

An acclaimed economist’s observations on four years of events that have shaped the world

In this new volume drawn from his columns for the French newspaper Le Monde, renowned economist Thomas Piketty takes measure of the world since 2021: leaders grappling with the aftershocks of a global pandemic; politics shifting rightward in Europe and America; and wars breaking out and escalating, from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to the conflict in Israel and Gaza. Together with an extended introductory essay arguing that an ecological socialism remains the best hope for global equality, these articles present Piketty’s vivid first draft of history--on the rise of China, political upheaval, armed conflict, inequity within and between nations, discrimination, and beyond. Despite the gathering clouds, Piketty continues to find reasons for hope.

Thomas Piketty is professor of economics and economic history at the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences at the Paris School of Economics. His books include Capital in the Twenty-First Century, A Brief History of Equality, and Time for Socialism: Dispatches from a World on Fire, 2016-2021. He lives in Paris, France.