Endowed professor Cornelia Dlabaja invited experts in inequality and family research from the Technical University of Dortmund to the second Urban Future Talks at FHWien der WKW.
The Urban Future Talks series kicked off with the inaugural lecture by endowed professor Cornelia Dlabaja in February. This was followed by a talk on the topic of “City and social inequality“. In cooperation with the University of Vienna ÖGS and the Social Inequality Section of the ÖGS, Dlabaja invited the two researchers Nicole Burzan and Maya Halatcheva-Trapp to the FHWien der WKW.
Wealth as social relation
The renowned experts in inequality and family research at the TU Dortmund University presented their ongoing research project on “Wealth as a social relationship. Intergenerational perspectives on the familial (re-)production of wealth” and discussed the potentials and challenges of qualitative wealth research. The project examines values and traditions in wealthy families and how they are passed on. It also analyzes how wealthy families view our society and how they live social commitment.
Prof. Dr. Nicole Burzan, Professor of Sociology at the Technical University of Dortmund, and Dr. Maya Halatcheva-Trapp, research assistant in the same research project, provided interesting insights into the empirical field of wealth and family and presented initial findings. The phrase “you don’t talk about money” is evident from the first interviews in the study: talking about money is a source of conflict within the family, i.e. in the research field itself, but people also don’t want to come out about it to the outside world.
In general, the distribution of wealth within the (core) family is a major issue, as is the “burden” of being a wealthy family.
The discussion after the lecture was moderated by Dr. Alban Knecht from the University of Klagenfurt and brought together participants from various disciplines and institutions. Over 50 people listened to the researchers’ explanations and were very actively involved in the debate, which was deepened during the subsequent get-together and networking.