Rethinking equality

In Rethinking equality, Chris Armstrong provides a critical account of contemporary egalitarian theories. He challenges their focus on issues of choice and personal responsibility, and questions their ability to address the major inequalities that characterise the contemporary world, before presenting an alternative vision of egalitarian politics based on the challenge of a genuinely inclusive form of citizenship. This vision is defended through a critical discussion of four key issues in political theory: the recognition/redistribution debate, the connection between equality and responsibility, the ideal of equal opportunities, and the significance of ‘globalisation’ for the politics of equal citizenship. Accessible and comprehensive, the book provides a clear, critical and very up-to-date account of the most important contemporary egalitarian theories, including the work of Rawls, Dworkin and the luck egalitarians, Anne Phillips, Iris Young and Nancy Fraser. Unusually, it also relates these theories to contemporary political (and especially citizenship) practice, assessing them in relation to the impact of neoliberalism on contemporary welfare states, and the shift from ‘social’ to ‘active’ forms of citizenship. As well as representing a significant intervention within academic debates on equality and citizenship, this book represents essential reading for students of contemporary political theory.

Contents
Introduction
Part I
1. The troubled life of social citizenship: Rawls on equality
2. Equality, risk and responsibility: Dworkin on the insurance market
3. Equality versus social inclusion?
Part II
4. Equality and responsibility: towards a more critical union?
5. Opportunities, outcomes and democratic citizenship: Young and Phillips on equality
6. Equalities: recognition, redistribution and citizenship
7. Equality and citizenship in global context
Conclusion
Index