The Value of Social Equality: Insights from Normative and Empirical Research

The Value of Social Equality: Insights from Normative and Empirical Research January 12 & 13 2015  

Queen’s University Belfast, Old Common Room, Lanyon Building  

This is the second workshop of a four-workshop series on social equality, supported by a grant from the British Academy and the Leverhulme Trust. We gratefully acknowledge further financial support from the School of Politics, International Studies and Philosophy at Queen’s, as well as the Institute for Collaborative Research in the Humanities.

Description: Growing inequality threatens social cohesion, increases social risks, and undermines people's self-respect. While it is clear that we live in deeply inegalitarian societies, there exists wide disagreement over how best to understand the ideal of equality, and over which norms and policies should be pursued in efforts to improve the status quo. One promising answer, distinct from more familiar 'distributive' views, is the idea of relational or social egalitarianism, which postulates that all citizens should relate to one another as equals. But what exactly does this idea entail, and how can it inform public policy and practical politics?   In this second workshop, we will investigate the value of social equality by looking at both normative and empirical findings concerning its importance, with a particular focus on social stigma, gender, class relations and epidemiology.   

Monday, 12 January 2015  

9:30 – 10:00  Welcome and Introduction of the workshop theme                         Emily McTernan, Martin O’Neill, Christian Schemmel and Fabian Schuppert 10:00 –

11:15           ‘Social Equality and Relative Poverty’                         Jo Wolff, UCL

11:15 –11:45           Coffee  

11:45 – 13:00           ‘Social Equality and the Case of Microaggressions’                         Emily McTernan, UCL

13:00 – 14:00           Lunch  

14:00 – 15:15           ‘Safe Space, Community, and the Dynamics of Inclusion at a Homeless Community Garden’                         Heather Bullock, UC Santa Cruz

15:15 – 15:45           Coffee  

15:45 – 17:30           ‘title tbc’                         Richard Wilkinson, York  

19:00              Dinner  

Tuesday, 13 January 2015

9:45 – 11:00  ‘Dimensions of Social Equality’                         John Baker, UCD

11:00 – 11:30 Coffee  

11:30 – 12:45           ‘Understanding the Impact of inequality on Status Anxiety and Economic Stress: Comparative European Analysis’                         Chris Whelan, QUB

12:45 – 13:45           Lunch  

13:45 – 15:00           ‘Social Equality: The ultimate purpose of a just democracy’                         Ivo Wallimann-Helmer, Zurich  

End of Workshop    

To register for the workshop please get in touch at f.schuppert(at)qub.ac.uk or visit our facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/events/362735733899187/362735737232520/?notif_t=like or visit The Value of Social Equality: Insights from Normative & Empirical Research: