Blog

Why social tables remain the coolest tool for historical inequality studies

Studying economic inequality in contemporary settings remains a difficult thing to do. People are typically not too keen on letting you know how much they earn or how rich they are. We often under-report our earnings for fear of rebuke from tax authorities or because it’s a social taboo to speak about money and incomes. So modern economists are left with survey data that may either underestimate or overestimate inequality metrics. But despite these challenges the overall picture we get from many of these studies is more or less accurate. Now imagine looking at long-term inequality where the data situation…

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Collecting Archival Material: a Conversation with Historian Karin Pallaver

Maria Mwaipopo Fibæk talks to Karin Pallaver, a member of AFLIT and an Associate Professor of African History in the Department of History and Cultures at the University of Bologna. Karin’s research draws on a multitude of historical sources of which many were collected at national archives in United Kingdom and East Africa and the two discuss the collection of archival material for research. Karin has a longstanding interest in African history and she has been part of a ‘Money in Africa’ project based at the British Museum. She has published work on the long history of changing currency regimes…

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Land, Labour, Legacies: Long-term Trends in Inequality and Living Standards in Tanzania, c. 1920-2020

In my dissertation, I seek to investigate the roots of poverty and economic inequality in Tanzania and analyse how growth, inequality, and poverty interact in the country in four interrelated papers. Throughout the dissertation, the colonial period takes a prominent role, since a better understanding of the trends in inequality and living standards under colonial rule are crucial to tackle the overarching themes. To estimate inequality and living standards in the colonial era, social tables provided an invaluable tool. As in most sub-Saharan African colonies, the absence of comprehensive income tax records and household budget surveys for that period make…

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Presentation of the AFLIT Research Network

In this Q&A between the coordinator of the AFLIT research network, Professor Ellen Hillbom, and researcher Maria Fibaek, the AFLIT network is introduced. The conversation highlights why there is a need to study inequality in colonial Africa. Thoughts on ways to overcome data scarcity and the development of theories of drivers of inequality are exchanged. If you are interested in learning more about our research, kindly browse our Case Studies, download our published work, or reach out to us via the contact form.

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