Social Europe
Journal
Volume 6 • Issue 1
Summer/Autumn 2011
www.social-europe.eu
Justice and Equality in
the Good Society
Contributions by
Thomas Pogge
Gesine Schwan
Colin Crouch
Henning Mankell
Ernst Hillebrand
Nat O’Connor
Rory O’Farrell
Bo Rothstein
Jorge Lanzaro
Social Europe Journal • Volume 6 • Issue 1 • Summer/Autumn 2011
Editorial
A
Henning Meyer
Editor of Social Europe Journal
and Senior Visiting Fellow at the
London School of Economics
and Political Science (LSE)
Kajsa Borgnäs
Researcher at ARBETARRÖRELSENS
TANKESMEDJA in Sweden
Christian Kellermann
Director of the Friedrich Ebert
Foundation Stockholm Office
for the Nordic Countries
fter a long period
of relative haziness
the call for justice and
equality is beginning to take
shape again. Beyond naming
and shaming obscene existing
inequalities there is a renewed
political impulse to redefine
what equality itself would mean
for our societies in Europe and
beyond. The concept itself but
also those actors and institutions who define equality are
increasingly under the spotlight.
In practice, the key tools for
achieving a relatively equal society are the social and economic
institutions that distribute and
attempt to equalise the opportunities available to all individuals to reach their full potential.
As an example, Sweden was for
long, and to some degree still is,
a role-model for evenly distributed life-chances. However, the
idea that equal opportunities are
guaranteed by the ‘free’ market,
rather than being dependent on
power-balancing institutions,
has also affected the rather
well-developed welfare states.
The contributions in this
issue bring together three different dimensions of justice and
equality: 1) social policy as a
key means to increase equality as well as improving overall
economic development, 2) a
more equal income-distribution through more balanced
power-relations on the labour
market and in the economy as
a whole, and 3) the question of
‘who´s equality’, bringing in
women and the young as focal
points of a society in progress.
In April 2011 we organised
a conference on the topic in
Stockholm. The contributions in
this issue stem from this debate.
We hope that these texts will
help to reshape the concepts of
justice and equality and combat
the strong headwinds of increasing inequalities that have so far
been the answer to today´s deep
economic and social crisis.
This issue concludes with a
special contribution by Jorge
Lanzaro, who compares experiences in South America. As
always, we hope you find this
issue stimulating and innovative.
Social Europe Journal • Volume 6 • Issue 1 • Summer/Autumn 2011
Contents
5
7
Rethinking Justice and Equality
Thomas Pogge
A Brief Commentary on the Relationship
between Equality and Justice
Gesine Schwan
9
12
14
Does Inequality matter in Rich Societies?
Colin Crouch
16
19
22
33
Equality and Justice Require Full Employment
Nat O’Connor
What is the Meaning of the Male Nipple?
Henning Mankell
Forget Redistribution – Why Direct Income
Distribution is Key for Equality and Justice
Ernst Hillebrand
Inequality and Europe 2020
Rory O’Farrell
Creating a Sustainable Solidaristic Society: A Manual
Bo Rothstein
Social Democracy in the Global South: Brazil, Chile
and Uruguay in a Comparative Perspective
Jorge Lanzaro