Stratification Economics: The Intellectual Tradition

In this paper, we explore multiple intellectual traditions that inspire and inform the subfield of stratification economics—a subfield of economics that emerged out of the desire to better explain intergroup inequality among dominant and subaltern identity groups. We first examine the shortcomings of neoclassical economic theory in explaining persistent intergroup inequalities in a way that doesn’t fall back on stereotypes and biases about subaltern group members. We then highlight the theories, disciplines, and traditions that stratification economics draws upon to address those shortcomings including identity economics, social stratification and social dominance theories, and critical Black and feminist epistemologies.