Mich "Finding Security in Equality: On the Securities (Not) to Be Offered by an Egalitarian Society"

Mardi intime de la Chaire Hoover par Josette Daemen

As actors at the right of the political spectrum seem to attract appeal by promising security, we may wonder what left-of-centre parties could offer in terms of security while staying true to their commitment to equality. In other words, what securities are there to be found in an egalitarian society? The present paper addresses this question by drawing on the relational egalitarian tradition of political thought. Given the demands of equality in the moral, economic, and political domain, the paper argues, an egalitarian society must indeed provide its members with a particular set of securities, which can be united under the heading ‘egalitarian security’. At the same time, the argument continues, working towards the ideal of equality inevitably puts some other securities out of reach – securities that conservatives, libertarians, and authoritarians do sometimes seem to offer. The paper ultimately suggests that egalitarian security is nonetheless the best we can get in terms of security, if that is something to be enjoyed by all.