Complex equality is a theory of
justice
Justice, in its broadest sense, is the principle that people receive that which they deserve, with the interpretation of what then constitutes "deserving" being impacted upon by numerous fields, with many differing viewpoints and perspective ...
outlined by
Michael Walzer
Michael Laban Walzer (born 1935) is an American political theorist and public intellectual. A professor emeritus at the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) in Princeton, New Jersey, he is editor emeritus of ''Dissent'', an intellectual magazine ...
in his 1983 work ''
Spheres of Justice
''Spheres of Justice: A Defense of Pluralism and Equality'' is a 1983 book by the philosopher Michael Walzer.
Summary
Walzer argues in favour of an idea he calls "complex equality", and against the view that goods with different meaning and cont ...
''. It is considered innovative because of its emphasis on the broader conceptualization of distribution, which covers not only tangible goods but also abstract goods such as rights. The theory is distinguished from simple
equality
Equality may refer to:
Society
* Political equality, in which all members of a society are of equal standing
** Consociationalism, in which an ethnically, religiously, or linguistically divided state functions by cooperation of each group's elite ...
since it allows certain inequalities in
social goods
In economics, a public good (also referred to as a social good or collective good)Oakland, W. H. (1987). Theory of public goods. In Handbook of public economics (Vol. 2, pp. 485-535). Elsevier. is a good that is both non-excludable and non-ri ...
.
Theory
The theory posits that inequalities in several spheres of society should not invade one another. Walzer's definition of complex equality is: "In formal terms, complex equality means that no citizen's standing in one sphere or with regard to one social good can be undercut by his standing in some other sphere, with regard to some other good." In this state of affairs, there are variety of goods and these are distributed according to the appropriate principles that are inherent in their social meanings.
The idea is that the resulting multiple inequalities that consistently do not favor any group serve as the equalizer.
A reading of Waltzer's notion is that it is culturally relative.
For instance, in the case of a
caste society
Caste is a form of social stratification characterised by endogamy, hereditary transmission of a style of life which often includes an occupation, ritual status in a hierarchy, and customary social interaction and exclusion based on cultural ...
, complex equality is characterized by the integration of meanings attached to goods in all spheres, effectively subjecting prestige, wealth, office, occupation, clothing, food, and knowledge to the same hierarchy.
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See also
*
Equality of opportunity
Equal opportunity is a state of fairness in which individuals are treated similarly, unhampered by artificial barriers, prejudices, or preferences, except when particular distinctions can be explicitly justified. The intent is that the important ...
References
Bibliography
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Further reading
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Egalitarianism
Michael Walzer
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