2024/10/01 by Hanna Kuusela · 1 citation
Economics, Econometrics and Finance · Social Sciences · #Housing, Finance, and Neoliberalism #Political and Economic history of UK and US
paper · doi:10.1080/03085147.2024.2406088
openalex publication_date 2024/10/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
The rise of the super-rich has been a defining characteristic of recent decades. This paper analyses the cultural underpinnings of contemporary private wealth accumulation, by exploring the changes in how Finnish business media has approached wealth accumulation at the top. Drawing from cultural political economy and Bourdieu’s theory of the social space, it examines how private wealth and wealthy owners have been represented in Finnish business media between 1981 and 2021. The paper argues that the changes in the representations demonstrate a rise of a new imaginary, in which private wealth accumulation is valued and perceived as a desirable goal both for individuals and the society. Finally, these cultural changes might pave the way for a new economic regime that could be called neo-accumulationist, meaning a regime characterized by specific advantages for those with accumulated economic assets.