Piketty amongst the historians: Introduction to a symposium on Thomas Piketty's Capital and Ideology

Abstract

This essay introduces this forum on Thomas Piketty's Capitalism and Ideology. We outline the debates that emerge from a joint reading of the six contributions to the forum. In doing so we assess the importance of Piketty's contribution to historical debates on capitalism, ideology, and inequality and consider how historians might respond to the challenges Piketty presents.