Gender inequality in the one percent: A look under the hood of high incomes in Germany

Gender differences in economic outcomes are important topics in social science research. However, the study of gender differences among economic elites—“the top one percent”—has received surprisingly little attention, likely also due to a lack of empirical data. This paper investigates gender differences in individual and household income among the top one percent of individual monthly net incomes and top two percent of net household incomes using data from the German Microcensus from 2006 to 2016 covering more than 3.3 million individuals. I find that women account for only around 14% of the one percent in individual incomes. Additionally, regarding the household level, women's incomes are sufficient to achieve two percent status in fewer than 10% of all households. Both numbers did hardly change over the decade from 2006 to 2016. Furthermore, women's pathways to belonging to a high-income household are far more dependent on their partner's education and employment status than men's. Overall, the findings thus show dramatic gender differences among the German economic elite that do not narrow over time.     

The Imperial Origins of Nation-States: Revisiting Hannah Arendt's Genealogy of Totalitarianism1

Against the backdrop of World War II, Hannah Arendt explores the origins of totalitarian rule, arguing that they date back to as early as the late nineteenth century. Alongside anti-Semitism, overseas colonialism and pan-nationalism paved the way for the totalitarian regimes that crystallized a few decades later by weakening the system of nation-states from within. Using the example of Germany, I will argue in this article that we need to revise Arendt's narrative. It focuses too narrowly on how nationalism turned into its categorical opposite, imperialism, neglecting the complementary dynamics of how empire facilitated the nation-state. Only then can we acknowledge the deep rupture that World War I brought about when it created in its wake a dynamic that culminated in the destruction of European nation-states.