ABSTRACT
Subjective indicators are as essential to understanding the social world as they are to understanding the physical world. For instance, when assessing the health risks associated with weather variations, “feels like” temperature is far more informative than objective indicators. Similarly, the perception of economic opportunities is critical to fully grasping social inequality. When viewed as temporal and closely linked to material conditions, subjectivity enhances our understanding of social constraints. To use a meteorological metaphor, I am assessing the “wealth forecast.” Future projections are a decisive criterion of social hierarchy, which can be analyzed through various materials, including statistics, qualitative surveys, and records from specific social groups. The book’s introduction addresses the conceptualization of subjectivity developed in the book through the concept of “projective synthesis.” It presents an outline of chapters of the book.
