A Lecture with Thomas Piketty: Historicising Inequality: 1800–2025

Historicizing Inequality, 1800–2025 is a wide-ranging discussion on the history of inequality, tracing its evolution from 1800 to the present day and the forces that continue to shape our economic and social futures.

The lecture is given by Thomas Piketty, Professor of Economics at the Paris School of Economics and the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences (EHESS), and co-director of the World Inequality Lab. He is the author of Capital in the Twenty-First Century and Capital and Ideology, and is among the most influential economists of his generation in reshaping how we understand wealth, income and the politics of distribution. Piketty will be joined on stage by Kim Stanley Robinson, the acclaimed author whose novel The Ministry for the Future gives the Oxford Ministry for the Future its name. In their conversation, they will explore how utopias can inform our policies of creating equal opportunities and just and fair societies. This event is hosted by the OMF and INET.

The lecture is followed by a reception with drinks and canapés alongside a video installation by the internationally renowned visual artist Maija Tammi. Experience Tammi's provocative work and take the opportunity to connect with fellow attendees from across academia, the arts, and civil society.

The Oxford Ministry for the Future (OMF) is an interdisciplinary network that brings together academics, artists, authors and public thinkers to address global challenges through dialogue, storytelling, research and public engagement. This event is the largest Oxford Ministry for the Future event to date: a two-day (Nov 23-24) exploration of some of the defining questions of our age - why does inequality persist, and what might a fair and just future look like? Bringing together world-leading thinkers, authors, artists, and cultural performers, this landmark gathering will examine the histories, narratives, and structures that shape our world, exploring the tension between humanity's utopian aspirations and our enduring dystopian realities.