‘Meet the Thinkers: Thomas Piketty & Julia Cagé’

They have each been individually hosted twice at Bozar, but never together. Thomas Piketty became world-famous for his pioneering research on inequality in society and is now one of the leading economists of his time. Julia Cagé, in her research, conducted incisive analyses of the challenges in the media and the French electoral system. 

This time, they meet in Brussels. Cagé and Piketty are not only partners, they also published their first book together; Une histoire du conflit politique - Elections et inégalités sociales en France, 1789-2022. In this collaborative effort, they scrutinize the motivations and choices of French voters, spanning the period from 1789 to 2022. Their conclusions, drawn from digitized election results from 35,000 French municipalities, present a notably optimistic outlook, particularly for the left: social concerns wield a more significant influence on voting behavior than identity issues. 

Cagé and Piketty will distill the essence of their book, followed by an interview conducted by Pascal Claude (RTBF).