(Un)equal Utopias: A Deliberative and Speculative Exercise in Inequality Beliefs

Taking a qualitative approach to the study of inequality beliefs, this research starts from the question: ‘How do people make sense of inequality?’ Extant research in the field has pointed at the seemingly paradoxical relationship between ever rising rates of inequality and low levels of concern, leaving people seemingly unbothered. However, research often has a weak understanding of how a sense of inequality comes into being and generally confronts the issue from a quantitative perspective. By combining a deliberative focus group design with an inventive speculation approach, this exploratory study offers a methodological innovation to the field of inequality beliefs research. The methodological approach allows for an examination of inequality-belief formation in a social context and provokes participants to explore utopian ideals of society through an adaptation of the sandbox.