Universität zu Köln

Ischinsky, Emma ORCID: 0000-0002-3884-4052 (2026). (Un)Covering the Rich. Invisibility, Deservingness, and Legitimation in Mediated Representations of Germany's Wealth Elite. PhD thesis, Universität zu Köln.

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Abstract

The growing concentration of wealth raises a fundamental question: How can such inequality persist despite the tension between it and democratic norms, fairness, and merit? The dissertation addresses this puzzle by examining how the super-rich are represented in the German press. Rather than treating inequality as a purely economic phenomenon, it approaches wealth concentration as also being dependent on symbolic processes of public visibility, interpretation, and legitimation. Building on the sociology of ignorance, deservingness theory, and the political economy of the media, it investigates three interrelated dimensions of media representation: visibility, moral evaluation, and institutional variation. Empirically, it constructs two largescale datasets: a database of 1,718 of Germany’s richest individuals derived from Manager Magazin rich lists (2001–2023), and a corpus of 143,774 press articles mentioning these individuals across eight major German outlets. Using quantitative text analysis, the dissertation provides a systematic account of whether and how the rich appear in the press. It identifies two central mechanisms through which extreme wealth is stabilised in public discourse: selective invisibility and narrative legitimation. Large parts of the wealth elite remain scarcely visible, while those who do appear are frequently embedded in narratives of entrepreneurship, social contribution, or modesty. Further, representations vary systematically across media outlets, reflecting differences in ownership structures and audience composition. By applying a population-based approach, the dissertation gives a comprehensive account of how the media represents the richest members of society. In doing so, it characterises the media as a key site in the reproduction of wealth inequality.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD thesis)
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID ORCID Put Code Ischinsky, Emma emi@mpifg.de https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3884-4052 UNSPECIFIED
URN:	urn:nbn:de:hbz:38-810771
Identification Number:	10.17617/2.3722252
Date:	2026
Publisher:	IMPRS-SPCE
Place of Publication:	Cologne
ISBN:	ISBN 9783946416401
Language:	English
Faculty:	Faculty of Management, Economy and Social Sciences
Divisions:	Externe Einrichtungen
Subjects:	Social sciences Economics
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Keywords Language super-rich English wealth inequality English media English ignorance English quantitative text analysis English Germany English
Date of oral exam:	14 July 2026
Referee:	Name Academic Title Beckert, Jens Prof. Dr. Kroneberg, Clemens Prof. Dr.
Refereed:	Yes
URI:	http://kups.ub.uni-koeln.de/id/eprint/81077