Claus Offe on the end of social equality

Talking to Harry Nutt about social change and the end of the equalising state, Claus Offe notes that in the free market society opportunities and risks are increasingly unequally distributed: "The opportunities are accumulating on one side, without that side having to face serious risks. Those who, purely by chance, are at an advantage in terms of personal capital, personal qualifications, birth cohort, place of residence, having the right connections or the right experience abroad, are in a virtually unassailable position of secure prosperity for life. On the other hand are those who are 'left behind', or are at least not in a position to increase or even maintain their real income - whether they belong to the industrial middle classes or the downgraded employees. This is where the risks are accumulating."

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