Dictionary Entry: Equality

Equality is not one idea, and one can advocate or criticize a number of forms of egalitarianism. Many egalitarians advocate the equal distribution of one of a range of equalisanda-in other words, what it is that should be equalized, such as political power, human rights, primary goods, opportunities for welfare, or capabilities. This notion that equality is best described according to some "thing" that should be distributed equally has been subject to criticism by a range of schools of thought. Of these critics, a number

The debate about equality and inequality is universal and eternal. Persons with different ideological perspectives enter the debate with very different understanding of the concept/s involved. equality is often promoted as equality of opportunity yet this concept may lead to very unequal outcomes - as those granted opportunity may not have equal means of exploiting their opportunity. There is some consensus that more equal societies are better places for everybody. This paper raises some of the arguments and expands on the need for the equalization of many form of capital to achieve more equal and egalitarian societies. Equality/inequality should be subject to several metrics and constantly under scrutiny and measured using many metrics. Keywords Equality Inequality Social Cultural Economic Capital Opportunity Outcome

The principle of equality: new and old challenges Equality, as a concept, is as old as mankind. Conceived as a principle intimately related to the fundamental rights and freedoms of people, its political consecration can be traced back to the American and the French Declarations of 1776 and 1789. Since then, it began to exercise its innovative drive in the development of the legal systems all over the world, during the following Centuries. Equality in the modern sense of the notion, as equality of all people before the law, thus started to impose itself as a principle able to limit the power. After the Second World War, it became a core element of the "Postwar paradigm", as part of international documents and national constitutions. The spread of the principle in written legal texts was accompanied by the new awareness about the insufficiency of the merely affirmation of everyone's equality before the law, unable to effectively fight against social and economic discriminations. Public powers must act in the fight against social inequalities. Afterwards, substantial equality has been entrenched in many constitutions, in the context of the "transformative constitutionalism" movement, especially in the Global South. Equality principle represents a founding element of contemporary constitutionalism. Fundamental rights are universal, and the defence of human dignity must be placed at the centre within plural societies, notably with reference to the current globalised and multicultural world. Still, the increasing growth of inequalities currently represents a major topic to be addressed. How can law fill the gap between the equality political project and the discriminations constantly present in our societies? Which are the tools able to reconcile the tension between formal and substantial equality? Are the non-discriminations clauses enshrined in domestic constitutions and international documents enough to guarantee an effective implementation of the equality principle? How can the interpretation of such written clauses contribute to an extensive protection of human dignity and pluralism? Which tools can be used in case of unwillingness of the legislator to proactively act for the protection of substantive equality? Could courts make up for legislators, to fill in their omissions? Evidently, new challenges have developed in the 21st century, in the context of democratic decay. In many democracies, old and new, political forces hostile to liberal democracy appear to attack the rule of law and constitutional guarantees, after winning electoral majorities in the polls. Therefore, equality is even more challenged, and increasingly difficult to concretely guarantee. Those questions have driven the reflections exposed and debated within the IACL-AIDC Roundtable "The

Studies, 2001

2017

19th century’s famous poet Oliver Wendell Holmes once said “I have no respect for the passion for equality, which seems to me merely idealizing envy.” However that is not a popular idea and equality for everybody generally seen as a pillar stone of a just society by common view. It is widely accepted that all human beings are equal and people should be treated as equals in any case. If there is a situation that creates an inequality in any way, people oppose it and try to change it relentlessly. It is straightforward and convenient to think that equality for all would create a just society however it is not the case. This paper is going to challenge the status-quo by being in defense of inequality, supporting some anti-egalitarian insights and bringing out the new concept of “equivalency in society”. In order to do this, the paper is claiming that equality for all is impossible because all people are not equal also equality doesn’t mean justice thus trying to make people equal creates injustice rather than justice and the solution to this problem is equivalency for all in society.

2021

Res Publica, 2006

We outline our central reasons for pursuing the project of equality studies and some of the thinking we have done within an equality studies framework. We try to show that a multi-dimensional conceptual framework, applied to a set of key social contexts and articulating the concerns of subordinate social groups, can be a fruitful way of putting the idea of equality into practice. Finally, we address some central questions about how to bring about egalitarian social change.

Equality, 2009

Equality is one of the central ideas in contemporary politics. But how does it relate to other human values, and particularly with the progressive values of the political left? I will argue that there is a close connection between one particular conception of equality, which I call 'equality of condition', and such values as human rights, diversity, liberation, freedom, solidarity and environmentalism. Overall, my argument is intended to support the claim that equality should be at the centre of our thinking about existing social institutions and how they should be changed. 1 'Equality of condition' is one of several possible conceptions of equality. It is, broadly speaking, the belief that people should be as equal as possible in relation to the central conditions of their lives. Equality of condition is not about trying to make inequalities fairer, or giving people a more equal opportunity to become unequal, but about ensuring that everyone has roughly equal prospects for a good life, that they are equally enabled and empowered in living their lives. To make this a little more specific, it helps to focus on five key 'dimensions' in which people can be equal or unequal in societies like ours. These five dimensions represent five major determinants of how well a person's life goes, in relation to a wide range of conceptions of what a good life looks 1 This article is part of continuing collaborative research in the Equality Studies Centre at UCD and in particular collaboration with Kathleen Lynch, Sara Cantillon and Judy Walsh. Because the ideas in this article rely on so many sources, I refer readers to our more academic publications for elaborations, acknowledgements and references and in particular to our forthcoming book, Equality from Theory to Action.

As a sociologist you are invited to critically explore the following related questions; is a more equal society possible and if so what are the barriers to achieving equality. You are asked to engage with the various different conceptualisations of equality and provide justification for the ideology to which you subscribe.

The Philosophical Quarterly