The sociology of taxes and the research of inequality

Abstract

This paper explores questions and possibilities related to the sociological study of taxes based on the proposal of ‘Intellectual Craftsmanship’ developed by Charles Wright Mills. Following Mill’s suggestion to value and enhance the contribution of sociology to interpretation of societies, linking individual problems with macro-social phenomena, this paper argues that taxation may be a fruitful field of research to develop the sociological imagination. Moreover, taxes are also relevant to understand income and wealth concentration and inequality, and with it some aspects of the social upheaval in recent months in Chile.