Which Way’s Left? What kind of equality?

5 November 2009

Should the equality that the Left now pursues be more focused on capabilities than just resources?

The idea of equality has always been a powerful and unifying idea for the centre-Left, especially since Tony Crosland’s The Future of Socialism. However, despite a lively debate in academic circles, political discourse has often glossed over a debate about exactly what kind of equality is most important. But this is a crucial question.  Both in terms of designing a successful policy framework, and in order to win the argument for that agenda, we need a much clearer account of which kinds of equalities are most important and why they are important.

So, which inequalities do we care about most – and to what extend is narrowing them a means to an end or an end in itself? Are we more concerned about the gaps in society between the bottom and the top, the bottom and the middle, or the top and the rest? Should inequalities in wealth and income be the sole focus of our concern? Or is such resource equality too narrow a concept to capture whether people’s lives go well? Does Amartya Sen’s idea of equal capabilities provide a more rounded account of the sort of society we seek? Or is it a distraction from more traditional accounts of inequality?

To help confront this issue we have asked Jonathan Wolff, Professor of Philosophy at University College London, and Stuart White, Director of the Public Policy Unit and Lecturer in Politics at Oxford University, to write short papers responding to this question.

As a guide, we think there are broadly two potential approaches:

  • The concept of capabilities offers a valuable guide to a new reconciliation between equality and liberty for the centre-Left. Unlike both ‘thin’ equality of opportunities or non-interference liberalism, it recognises and seeks to address the unjust contexts and constraints in which people live their lives. While having enough income and wealth are essential to enjoying a good life, a capabilities approach broadens out these requirements (making for a far more ambitious egalitarian project). In particular, it focuses on ensuring people are able to choose and actually pursue their goals. This places the exercise and distribution of power – in our democracy, workplaces and public services – centre stage. A capabilities approach draws attention to which particular inequalities are most problematic, while avoiding the conformity of seeking equal outcomes.
  • Capabilities is a useful framework for thinking about the necessary conditions for leading a good life, but it should not be the sole or guiding idea for the centre-Left. Philosophically, it is an individualistic concept, indifferent to either the distribution of capabilities or the outcomes they produce. It is, therefore, not really a theory of equality at all. By leaving many questions about it’s application unresolved – such as which are the most important capabilities and whether they are owed unconditionally – a capabilities approach offers a limited guide to policy (which in practice is indistinguishable from equality of opportunity). This approach is also a distraction from the task of securing a more equal distribution of the core sources of power, principally income and wealth.

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