François Dubet is a professor emeritus of sociology at Bordeaux II University and director of studies at the École des hautes études en sciences sociales (EHESS). His work has gained international recognition, establishing him as one of the most important French sociologists of our time.

We are living in a time of melancholy, anger, and indignation. Inequalities are widening and transforming. The division of social classes is no longer so clear-cut; each of us encounters various inequalities: as an employee or occasional worker, as a holder of specialized knowledge or unskilled, as a woman or man, as a resident of the city or the countryside, depending on one’s family status or national and social background.

Social ills are no longer experienced as trials calling for collective struggles, but as a series of personal injustices, discriminations, experiences of social contempt, and doubts about our self-worth. As they can no longer identify opponents to be fought, individuals are swept up in a sense of resentment that nurtures all kinds of populism.

The regime of multiple inequalities gives rise to a society of anger: our own society. We must understand it in order to manage to resist the unleashing of indignation. The struggle against great social inequalities must be a priority. These inequalities are intolerable.

We must consider why there should not be a cap on high incomes, especially since Emmanuel Faber, the head of Danone, explains that if the top 1% of salaries in the group were reduced by 30%, the salary of the bottom 20% of earners would double. Extreme inequalities are not only scandalous; they are also dangerous, as they create a ruling elite beyond any control, which relocates its investments based on fiscal opportunities, social burdens, ecological regulations, and expected dividends.

However, the struggle against “great” inequalities does not free us from the need to also prioritize the fight against “smaller” inequalities, those that matter to the individuals they affect. Economically, great inequalities count more. But from a sociological and political perspective, the smaller ones are more significant. These are the ones that shape social experiences, anger, and indignation. These are what strengthen or destroy mechanisms of solidarity.

As they find no constructive and democratic political expression, these multiple inequalities today give rise to populism, apathy, and demagoguery. The defense of social equality must remain our political horizon. Let us remind ourselves that there is no contradiction between equality and efficiency. Equal societies are not less dynamic than unequal societies; they are more peaceful and healthier. In these societies, the call for solidarity and environmental protection is more easily accepted.