Studying Inequality, Studying the Rich: an Introduction to a Long-Overdue Discussion
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Abstract
This article, which introduces this issue's special section on Guido Alfani’s As Gods Among Men, explores the history of the rich as a distinct field of historical inquiry, arguing that wealth and wealthy groups have remained comparatively understudied despite their central role in shaping economic, political, social, and cultural systems. While recent scholarship has advanced the study of inequality through analyses of economic divergence, income distribution, and social hierarchies, less attention has been devoted to the historical actors who occupy the upper reaches of these structures. The article examines the historiographical and theoretical challenges involved in studying the rich, focusing on their identities, forms of representation, institutional power, and systems of legitimation.
Keywords: History of Wealth, Economic Inequality, History of Economic Ideas, Historiography of the Rich, Social Hierarchies and Legitimation
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