Abstract

The affluent society is both a scientific concept (a stage of societal development permitting redistribution of wealth for quality of life objectives) and normative ideal (a critique of political, economic, and cultural priorities that presume material scarcity and social inequality). Both connotations draw upon the legacy of American economist John K. Galbraith's 1958 book, The Affluent Society , which left an important stamp upon social criticism and protest of the time. Today, the affluent society resonates in scholarly inquiries into the contemporary appearance of “postmaterial” values. However, although the objective conditions indicated by the scientific concept still characterize many developed societies, as normative ideal the affluent society agenda of public investment and collective well‐being has seen its political influence diminished by the ascendance of neoliberal ideology.

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