Egalitarian society

Egalitarian society ( French égalité , from Latin aequalitas : "equality") describes a social group , community or society in which all members have the same access to the central resources ( food , goods , land , etc.) and no member permanently Exercise power over others. The social status of the individual in egalitarian groups depends above all on their abilities and will, there is political and social equality . This “lack of power” is called acephaly in the political context (“without a head”). Individual possessions and property are only subordinate values in such groups.

The term is mainly used in ethnology (ethnology) and mainly refers to hunters and gatherers ( hordes of hunters ) or other small local communities of traditionally living ethnic groups who have always maintained this form of interaction with one another.

Egalitarianism

Ideological endeavors in state societies to create wholly or partially egalitarian conditions are called egalitarianism . Such ethical, political, economic or socio-political positions strive to achieve equality. One direction of egalitarianism wants equality of personal property, another demands equal opportunities for every individual in society.

According to Marxism, communists (from Latin communis "together") derive from egalitarianism a classless society with the abolition of the exploitation of man by man . One of the prerequisites for this is the partial abolition of private ownership of the means of production ( corporations ) and the distribution of goods according to the principle of taking people's skills and needs into account.

The conception of a z. B. political, economic, scientific or cultural elite is in contrast to egalitarian social constructions. Nevertheless, egalitarianism (only related to the “German race”) was also part of the political ideology and propaganda of National Socialism , which in reality was, however, strongly hierarchically structured.

The term “egalitarianism” is also used, for example, in relation to gender relations , human rights and education.

Important representatives of egalitarianism include a. Jean-Jacques Rousseau , Friedrich Engels and Thomas Nagel .

Important representatives of egalitarian liberalism include: a. John Rawls , Ronald Dworkin , Ernst Tugendhat , Bruce Ackerman or Philippe van Parijs .

In the current feminist discussion, the concept of egalitarianism refers to hierarchical structures in gender relations that unfold their effect at the expense of social minorities. The gender researcher Birgit Rommelspacher understands egalitarianism as a political strategy that legitimizes cultural dominance and economic subordination in the name of equality.

See also

• Saladoid culture
• individualism
• collectivism
• Elitism
• National Socialism # Egalitarian principles and relationship to socialism
• Political rights
• Cold and hot cultures or options

literature

• Manuel Knoll : Aristocratic or Democratic Justice? The political philosophy of Aristotle and Martha Nussbaum's egalitarian reception. Fink, Munich 2009, ISBN 978-3-7705-4858-3 .
• Angelika Krebs (Ed.): Justice or Equality. Texts of the new critique of egalitarianism. 2nd Edition. Suhrkamp, ​​Frankfurt 2002, ISBN 978-3-518-29095-8 .
• GA Cohen : Rescuing Justice and Equality. Harvard University Press, 2008, ISBN 978-0-674-03076-3 .
• Ronald Dworkin: Sovereign Virtue: The Theory and Practice of Equality. Harvard University Press, 2000, ISBN 978-0-674-00810-6 .
• Thomas Nagel : The problem of global justice. In: Broszies, Hahn (Ed.): Global Justice. 2010, pp. 104-145.
• Philippe Van Parijs : International Distributive Justice. In: R. Goodin, P. Pettit, Th. Pogge (Eds.): The Blackwell's Companion to Political Philosophy. Oxford 2008.
• Frank Deppe , Steven Lukes : Egalitarismus (pdf), in: Historical-Critical Dictionary of Marxism , Vol. 3, Argument-Verlag, Hamburg, 1997, Sp. 20–31.

Web links

• John-Stewart Gordon:  Moral Egalitarianism. In: Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy .
• Richard Arneson:  Egalitarism. In: Edward N. Zalta (Ed.): Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy .
• Angelika Krebs: equality "or" justice. The criticism of egalitarianism. (PDF; 56 kB)
• Bernd Ladwig : Justice and Equality. In: Information Philosophy. (with references)
• Stefan Gosepath:  Equality. In: Edward N. Zalta (Ed.): Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Walter Hirschberg (Ed.): Dictionary of Ethnology. New edition, 2nd edition. Reimer, Berlin 2005, p. 88.
2. ^ Dieter Haller: Dtv-Atlas Ethnologie. 2nd Edition. dtv, Munich 2010., p. 179.
3. ↑ Jens Jessen: In Hitler's Society (2012)
4. ↑ The National Socialist Community (German Historical Museum)