EQUALITY

An eminent cultural historian examines equality, a thorny but crucial issue that requires deep consideration.

Given the importance that the notion of equality plays in political discourse, it is odd that there is no universally accepted definition of it. This is not for want of trying: Communists, democrats, conservatives, fascists, and any number of would-be revolutionaries have all laid claim to the idea. McMahon, a professor of cultural history and the author of several well-regarded books, takes an intellectual tour from classical Athens to modern times, looking at the ways in which the term has been used and abused. In fact, he goes back even further, examining primate and primitive societies. All societies have hierarchical structures, and there is an inevitable tension between hierarchy and equality. But when those at the bottom rise up to topple the elite by “leveling down,” as in the French Revolution or Mao’s Cultural Revolution, the eventual result is simply a new elite, with a lot of blood spilled along the way. Nevertheless, after 1945, the idea of equality, while vague, seemed to have won the ideological debate, with the “arc of history” seeming to bend in that direction and eventually including women, people of color, and other marginalized groups. Perhaps, but some of the people who currently scream loudest for equality do not seem inclined to share it outside their own circle. McMahon does not provide his own definition of equality, but he believes there is an obligation to do more than pay lip service to the idea. Hierarchies are unavoidable, he notes, but “we hold it in our power to make them less severe and more fair.” It is not an easy conclusion, but, given the depth and complexity of the ideas that McMahon tackles, probably the most appropriate one.

An important examination of the past, present, and future of a key concept of political thinking.