Cristóbal Rovira Kaltwasser is a professor of Political Science at the Diego Portales University in Santiago de Chile, and an associate researcher at the Centre for Social Conflict and Cohesion Studies (COES), a hub for large-scale investigations of contemporary Chilean society. Through his work on populism and democracy, Cristóbal also addresses wealth inequality.
In this episode of the Wealth Inequality Initiative, he shares the results of a recent study that showcases differing perceptions of inequality between elites and the broader population in Chile.
Extreme levels of wealth inequality fuel populism
Despite an impressive decline in poverty after its transition to democracy in 1990 and more than three decades of political stability, Chile has entered a new era marked by major societal conflicts. At the end of 2019, mass demonstrations and riots spread across the country, as large swaths of the population took to the streets to protest against various forms of inequality.
To understand Chile’s current situation, Cristóbal and a COES team developed a novel survey, administered between August 2019 and January 2021 to ca. 140 respondents each from Chile’s cultural, economic, and political elites. A similar survey was conducted among a representative cross-section of the country’s adult population, enabling a comparison of opinions from the elite and the rest of Chilean society.
The results show a clear disconnect across social strata when it comes to perceptions of inequality. Not only did opinions differ between socioeconomic groups, but respondents were unaware of this difference. Those in one group did not know that those in another group perceived inequality differently.
At stake here is Chile’s social stability and cohesion, its economic development, and the interests of all, across the wealth spectrum.
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The wealthy need to understand that if they are willing to share wealth in a better sense, so that society becomes a bit more equal, this is good for them too, as the process will generate political stability that allows businesses to prosper
Cristóbal Rovira Kaltwasser is a professor of Political Science at the Diego Portales University in Santiago de Chile and an associate researcher at the Centre for Social Conflict and Cohesion Studies (COES), a hub for large-scale investigations of contemporary Chilean society.
A Chilean by birth, Cristóbal received his PhD in political science from the Humboldt University of Berlin in 2008. His main area of research is comparative politics, with a focus on the fraught relationship between populism and democracy, and the resurgence of the political right in Latin America and Europe. Cristóbal’s research and collaborations span Latin America, the UK, Germany, and Spain.
Together with Cas Mudde of the University of Georgia, he has written the book Populism: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford University Press, 2017), which has been translated into several languages, including Dutch, French, German, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish, and Thai. Cristóbal is a member of the editorial boards of the journals Comparative Political Studies, Government & Opposition and Political Research Exchange.
Nathalie Jean-Baptiste is the Deputy CEO and the Senior Programme Manager - Wealth Inequality at the Julius Baer Foundation, which she joined in March 2020. Prior to Julius Baer, she led an action research unit in East Africa for 4 years. Nathalie has an extensive research background, she was a Marie Curie Global Fellow and worked for the last 15 years in the field of urban studies. Her work focused on inequalities, urban vulnerabilities and transformation. Nathalie is an architect graduated in Mexico City and holds an MSc and PhD from the Bauhaus University. Her international experience bridging science and practice spreads across Mexico, Germany, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Tanzania as well as Australia. She is a board member of the International Association People-Environment Studies and currently serves as a mentor in the WISA - Women in Science and Art Program.
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