Dimensions of Equality: A Framework for Theory and Action

Abstract

In this chapter we provide a framework for thinking about equality, concentrating on the normative question: what ideals of equality should we believe in? We identify five dimensions of equality and use them to distinguish between what we call basic equality, liberal egalitarianism and equality of condition. What emerges is a spectrum of views with increasingly ambitious goals for developed societies and, by implication, for the relation between these societies and the rest of the world. We argue that there is a natural path from basic equality to the beliefs of liberal egalitarians and from those beliefs to equality of condition. We start by saying something about the idea of equality and why it generates so many different meanings. We then discuss each of the three views in turn, concentrating on comparing liberal egalitarianism and equality of condition in each of the five dimensions. Towards the end of the chapter we outline how this normative framework can be applied to different social groups.