Equality

Key Concepts (Polity)

by Stuart White, Gareth Schott

The demand for equality is central to modern politics. But what exactly do we mean by equality? Does it threaten other important values? Is it a demand we should support or question? This highly accessible book provides an engaging introduction to the concept of equality and to the debates, historical and contemporary, that surround it. It explains and critically considers how the demand for equality arises in different spheres.
In the political sphere, it explores the relationship between equality and democracy. In the economic and social spheres, it explores the ideal of meritocracy and more radical theories of egalitarian justice developed in the works of John Rawls and Ronald Dworkin. In the legal sphere, the book discusses the challenges that feminism and multiculturalism pose to conventional conceptions of equal citizenship.
It concludes with an examination of whether equality should go global, and by analyzing contemporary arguments for and against the continuing relevance of equality to the political life of affluent democracies. Throughout, the book considers the tensions internal to the demand for equality and between equality and other important values such as liberty and efficiency. Drawing on political philosophy, sociology and the history of political thought, the book will be of interest to students and researchers in philosophy and the social sciences and anyone interested in the values that animate democratic political life.

197 pages, Hardcover

First published December 22, 2006

Reviews

[Barry · Rating 1 out of 5]

So Disappointed . The book has a scholarly veneer. It starts out with a truth- "The Demand for Equality today is central to modern politics" Agreed. It offers a taxonomy of ways to think about various forms of equality, all interesting, some with dubious assumptions/ assertions- but I was prepared to hear him out.My quest, that brought me to this work, was, other than before G-d, in what ways are we equal? Some are stronger, smarter, taller, better athletes, singers, dancers, craftsman .... Sure we are all equally human , but what is the algorithm that coverts are inequalities of nature and nurture into Justice? That was my quest- so disappointed. this book's bias is off the charts- It occasionally offers up historical insights from Socrates to Hobbes and Locke and so many more - and then leaves their offerings without reconciling them with whats to come. He will offer centrist or capitalist arguments as Straw-men and spends the book knocking them down without balanced rebuttal. He offers many voices from left , to more left , to Marxist and beyond- so a centrist position in his galaxy of opinions is somewhere between far left and ...

He gives voice to folks who argue "..we should design our institutions and policies so that people are not significantly disadvantaged due to differences in natural endowments " and supports taxation of talented workers or longer working workers to equal their wages for the less talented or less hard working. He muses with regret that some families give unfair advantage to their kids by their nurture which other parents can't match and bemoans, it would be hard to break up families to bring about equality as a practical matter. His world is a race to the bottom. He offers a thought experiment- imagine a world where 70% of the people are born blind and 30% have one eye- he offers arguments in favor of blinding the sighted, and voices with regret- probably we shouldn't. This book is scary because there may be people who believe this way. His use of the terms fairness and justice were Orwellian- they really meant the rule of Evil and dystopia. I hated his analysis. My only reason to complete this book was to try and better understand , the "logic" of some of the voices for evil out there. My quest that brought me to this book was not advanced