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Die Gesellschaft der Gleichen
In Demokratien der westlichen Gesellschaften lassen sich zunehmende soziale Unterschiede nicht mehr leugnen. Immer offensichtlicher werdende Einkommensunterschiede setzen das soziale Band bis zum Zerreißen unter Spannung. Eine Gefahr für die Demokratie?
Pierre Rosanvallon entfaltet ein sowohl sozial- wie begriffsgeschichtliches Panorama, das die Geschichte der Gleichheitsvorstellungen vom späten 18. Jahrhundert bis in die Gegenwart darstellt, und verknüpft diese Ideengeschichte mit einer kritischen Analyse der aktuellen politischen Situation.
Pierre Rosanvallon entfaltet ein sowohl sozial- wie begriffsgeschichtliches Panorama, das die Geschichte der Gleichheitsvorstellungen vom späten 18. Jahrhundert bis in die Gegenwart darstellt, und verknüpft diese Ideengeschichte mit einer kritischen Analyse der aktuellen politischen Situation.
384 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2011
19 people are currently reading
349 people want to read
About the author
Pierre Rosanvallon
59 books50 followersPierre Rosanvallon (b. 1948, Blois) is a French intellectual and historian, named professor at the Collège de France in 2001. He holds there the chair in the modern and contemporary history of the political. His works are dedicated to the history of democracy, French political history, the role of the state and the question of social justice in contemporary societies. He is also director of studies at the EHESS, where he leads the Raymond Aron Centre of Political Researches. Rosanvallon was in the 1970s one of the primary theoreticians of workers' self-management in the CFDT trade union.
He is diplomed from the HEC management school. In 1982, he created the Fondation Saint-Simon think-tank, along with François Furet. The Fondation dissolved in December 1999. Since 2002, Rosanvallon is member of the Scientific Counsel of the French National Library, and has the same functions, since 2004, at the École Normale Supérieure of Paris.
Rosanvallon created in 2002 La République des Idées, an "intellectual workshop" which he presides. The group publishes a review and books.
He is diplomed from the HEC management school. In 1982, he created the Fondation Saint-Simon think-tank, along with François Furet. The Fondation dissolved in December 1999. Since 2002, Rosanvallon is member of the Scientific Counsel of the French National Library, and has the same functions, since 2004, at the École Normale Supérieure of Paris.
Rosanvallon created in 2002 La République des Idées, an "intellectual workshop" which he presides. The group publishes a review and books.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
April 26, 2015
The justice fallacy
Nothing more neoliberal than 'theories of justice' - nothing less political. Politics is about power, and theories of justice are philosophical exercises fundamentally aimed at avoiding the issue of power.
Our neoliberal author is awesomely intelligent, learned and subtle - five stars for the lucidity, unprecedented in my reading experience, with which he frames the bourgeois revolutions and their ideologies - but he has a master to serve, and he serves them loyally.
Nothing more neoliberal than 'theories of justice' - nothing less political. Politics is about power, and theories of justice are philosophical exercises fundamentally aimed at avoiding the issue of power.
Our neoliberal author is awesomely intelligent, learned and subtle - five stars for the lucidity, unprecedented in my reading experience, with which he frames the bourgeois revolutions and their ideologies - but he has a master to serve, and he serves them loyally.
February 1, 2014
In “The Society of Equals” we follow the the idea of equality from its inception in the late 1700s, as a rejection of the privilege of nobility, to the current crisis of equality with steadily increasing wealth and income gaps between rich and poor, both on a national and a global level.
The book is divided into five parts. The first part discusses the “invention” of equality, and what it was understood to mean in post revolution France and America.
“One cannot understand the spirit of equality in the American and French Revolutions without recognizing this idea of the market as both an expression of liberty and a vector of equality. The market was seen as an institution of equality. The eighteenth century thus theorized the liberalism of reciprocity. … It was possible for such a positive view of the market to take hold in the eighteenth century because the Industrial Revolution had yet to do its damage. The idea of an emancipatory and egalitarian liberalism therefore made perfectly good sense.”
In the second part, the effects the explosion of inequality due to the rise of capitalism have on the egalitarian ideal are discussed.
"Between the advent of capitalism in the early part of the century and the first globalization toward the end, the egalitarian ideal was revised in four main ways:
1. The conservative-liberal ideology of the 1820s and 1830s was based on a minimalist legal reinterpretation of the egalitarian revolution. Its goal was to legitimate existing inequalities by linking them to the immorality of the proletariat or by naturalizing them.
2. Conversely, communism, which made its appearance in the 1840s, proposed a new rationalized communitarian society based on the elimination of competition, which was blamed for everything that had gone wrong. Communists understood equality as an instrument for building a unified, harmonious society.
3. The advent of the first globalization in the 1890s complicated matters. Protectionist nationalism emerged, pitting a definition of equality as homogeneity, based on xenophobia and defense of the nation, against the earlier revolutionary ideal of equality as a relation between individuals.
4. In America the idea of equality was radicalized in the form of racism, rejecting nonwhites from society in order to establish an imaginary equality among those who remained. Thus, the idea of democratic equality was perverted in four distinct ways, each of which represented a radical reinterpretation of the egalitarian principle. These pathologies would persist until the advent of the redistributive welfare state."
“The Century of Redistribution,” from the reforms of Otto von Bismarck in the late 19th century through the golden age of the social democracy ending around 1970, is the focus in the third part.
“The reforms that Otto von Bismarck introduced in Germany in the 1880s marked the beginning of a process that would ultimately transform the social landscape. In 1883, a system of compulsory health insurance was established, financed by a levy on workers and firms, and this was followed in 1884 by insurance covering accidents in the workplace. Old-age insurance was introduced in 1889, establishing the first compulsory retirement program. A Code of Social Insurance in 1911 extended this tripartite system. The inception of the German welfare state set off a veritable reformist fever throughout the Continent and, indeed, the entire industrialized world.”
Then, in part four, “The Great Reversal” is analyzed.
“With the collapse of communism and the evaporation of revolutionary hopes, the fears that had once driven reform dissipated. Memory of the shared ordeals of the past faded, and with it went the sense of heightened solidarity. Structural factors also played an important role. Three of these deserve to be singled out: the functional and moral crisis of institutions of solidarity; the advent of a new type of capitalism; and the metamorphoses of individualism.”
In the last part Rosanvallon discusses some of the new challenges of moving towards a society of equals in today's climate.
"In democratic regimes associated with the individualism of universality, universal suffrage meant that each individual had a claim to the same share of sovereignty as every other individual. In democracy as the social form of the individualism of singularity, the individual aspires to be important and unique in the eyes of others. Everyone implicitly claims the right to be considered a star, an expert, or an artist, that is, to see his or her ideas and judgments taken into account and recognized as valuable."
"The idea of equality must be reformulated in a way suited to an acknowledged age of singularity. The goal is to develop an “expanded political economy” of the social bond as a step toward a general theory of equality in all its dimensions. Only such a theory can provide a firm basis for reform."
The biggest obstacle to implementing more egalitarian politics in current society is deemed to be the felt absence of reciprocity.
“Today, the feeling that reciprocity has broken down is directed primarily at the two extremes of the social ladder. Some point to the fact that the wealthiest members of society contribute proportionally less than others to the collective effort and often find ways to exempt themselves from common rules, most notably in regard to taxation, either by way of specific legal deductions or because they can afford to hire lawyers and accountants to turn complex regulations to their advantage. But those at the bottom of the scale are also viewed with suspicion. The belief that they somehow receive benefits to which they are not entitled has spread insidiously. The welfare regime is deemed to be too generous or too indulgent, and its clients are accused of cheating to obtain benefits. Reality and fantasy have combined to create both a sociological problem and a political problem.”
The book ends with a broad outline of a conceptual approach to realizing a society of equals based on "plural equality." A hierarchy of properties based on their social importance is suggested as the basis of several projects of equalization. The goal is to find an equilibrium where "no individual considers himself to be in an irreversible or psychologically destructive situation of inequality in a multiplicity of dimensions." This may sound lofty and empty, but it really makes sense in context. I promise. Read the book! :)
The book is divided into five parts. The first part discusses the “invention” of equality, and what it was understood to mean in post revolution France and America.
“One cannot understand the spirit of equality in the American and French Revolutions without recognizing this idea of the market as both an expression of liberty and a vector of equality. The market was seen as an institution of equality. The eighteenth century thus theorized the liberalism of reciprocity. … It was possible for such a positive view of the market to take hold in the eighteenth century because the Industrial Revolution had yet to do its damage. The idea of an emancipatory and egalitarian liberalism therefore made perfectly good sense.”
In the second part, the effects the explosion of inequality due to the rise of capitalism have on the egalitarian ideal are discussed.
"Between the advent of capitalism in the early part of the century and the first globalization toward the end, the egalitarian ideal was revised in four main ways:
1. The conservative-liberal ideology of the 1820s and 1830s was based on a minimalist legal reinterpretation of the egalitarian revolution. Its goal was to legitimate existing inequalities by linking them to the immorality of the proletariat or by naturalizing them.
2. Conversely, communism, which made its appearance in the 1840s, proposed a new rationalized communitarian society based on the elimination of competition, which was blamed for everything that had gone wrong. Communists understood equality as an instrument for building a unified, harmonious society.
3. The advent of the first globalization in the 1890s complicated matters. Protectionist nationalism emerged, pitting a definition of equality as homogeneity, based on xenophobia and defense of the nation, against the earlier revolutionary ideal of equality as a relation between individuals.
4. In America the idea of equality was radicalized in the form of racism, rejecting nonwhites from society in order to establish an imaginary equality among those who remained. Thus, the idea of democratic equality was perverted in four distinct ways, each of which represented a radical reinterpretation of the egalitarian principle. These pathologies would persist until the advent of the redistributive welfare state."
“The Century of Redistribution,” from the reforms of Otto von Bismarck in the late 19th century through the golden age of the social democracy ending around 1970, is the focus in the third part.
“The reforms that Otto von Bismarck introduced in Germany in the 1880s marked the beginning of a process that would ultimately transform the social landscape. In 1883, a system of compulsory health insurance was established, financed by a levy on workers and firms, and this was followed in 1884 by insurance covering accidents in the workplace. Old-age insurance was introduced in 1889, establishing the first compulsory retirement program. A Code of Social Insurance in 1911 extended this tripartite system. The inception of the German welfare state set off a veritable reformist fever throughout the Continent and, indeed, the entire industrialized world.”
Then, in part four, “The Great Reversal” is analyzed.
“With the collapse of communism and the evaporation of revolutionary hopes, the fears that had once driven reform dissipated. Memory of the shared ordeals of the past faded, and with it went the sense of heightened solidarity. Structural factors also played an important role. Three of these deserve to be singled out: the functional and moral crisis of institutions of solidarity; the advent of a new type of capitalism; and the metamorphoses of individualism.”
In the last part Rosanvallon discusses some of the new challenges of moving towards a society of equals in today's climate.
"In democratic regimes associated with the individualism of universality, universal suffrage meant that each individual had a claim to the same share of sovereignty as every other individual. In democracy as the social form of the individualism of singularity, the individual aspires to be important and unique in the eyes of others. Everyone implicitly claims the right to be considered a star, an expert, or an artist, that is, to see his or her ideas and judgments taken into account and recognized as valuable."
"The idea of equality must be reformulated in a way suited to an acknowledged age of singularity. The goal is to develop an “expanded political economy” of the social bond as a step toward a general theory of equality in all its dimensions. Only such a theory can provide a firm basis for reform."
The biggest obstacle to implementing more egalitarian politics in current society is deemed to be the felt absence of reciprocity.
“Today, the feeling that reciprocity has broken down is directed primarily at the two extremes of the social ladder. Some point to the fact that the wealthiest members of society contribute proportionally less than others to the collective effort and often find ways to exempt themselves from common rules, most notably in regard to taxation, either by way of specific legal deductions or because they can afford to hire lawyers and accountants to turn complex regulations to their advantage. But those at the bottom of the scale are also viewed with suspicion. The belief that they somehow receive benefits to which they are not entitled has spread insidiously. The welfare regime is deemed to be too generous or too indulgent, and its clients are accused of cheating to obtain benefits. Reality and fantasy have combined to create both a sociological problem and a political problem.”
The book ends with a broad outline of a conceptual approach to realizing a society of equals based on "plural equality." A hierarchy of properties based on their social importance is suggested as the basis of several projects of equalization. The goal is to find an equilibrium where "no individual considers himself to be in an irreversible or psychologically destructive situation of inequality in a multiplicity of dimensions." This may sound lofty and empty, but it really makes sense in context. I promise. Read the book! :)
March 6, 2024
The SOCIETY OF EQUALS is a comprehensive take on the history of equality in Europe and Northern America. But Rosanvallon didin't write an intellectual history, at least not in the classical sense. By mixing some political historiy to the mix, he creates a feedback loop between ideas and practices that works pretty well. At some points, I hoped for more details as his narrative gets a bit idealized, but I guess that is the price one has to pay for a history that spans several centuries on two continents. The last chapter adds reflections for a more equal society in the present which are pretty interesting as they try to work with what the backlash of 30 years of neoliberalism which shattered the ideas of solidarity and redistributive equality that were the foundation for the mordern welfare state. While German historians are usually reluctant to draw conclusions for the present from their work, Rosanvallon deliberatly positions himself at the crossroad between historyography and political philosophy. I think both parts are a worthwhile and have interesting insights to offer to a discourse that is painfully topical.
April 25, 2024
Qué compleja ha sido la historia de la igualdad como concepto. Quizá es la idea más potente de la modernidad (con sus antecedentes en el cristianismo y la época clásica), al punto que sigue moldeando la política contemporánea.
El texto es una amplia historia conceptual de la igualdad, con muchos autores y giros de tuerca semánticos a cada página que hacen difícil seguirle el ritmo. Es un libro que merece un estudio profundo y su tiempo.
Llegué a este libro de Rosanvallon por el texto clásico de Bobbio sobre izquierdas y derechas, que remite a la cuestión de la igualdad la principal diferencia entre ambas orientaciones ideológicas. Los recomiendo leer juntos.
Destaco la idea final de entender la igualdad, ante todo, como una relación social y el ejemplo de la amistad es muy sugerente; en una verdadera relación de amistad la igualdad es básica y se sobrepone a las diferencias singulares de cada individuo. Esto para decir que no es necesario apostar por una semejanza en todos los aspectos entre integrantes para que exista la igualdad. El punto es que las diferencias no lleguen a ser tan grandes que impidan que la igualdad se construya como relación social. En ese sentido puede haber diferencias económicas, identitarias y de origen que pueden ser salvables en una relación de igualdad.
Y bueno, como no puede ser de otra forma, súper eurocéntrico el texto. Esperable esto último.
El texto es una amplia historia conceptual de la igualdad, con muchos autores y giros de tuerca semánticos a cada página que hacen difícil seguirle el ritmo. Es un libro que merece un estudio profundo y su tiempo.
Llegué a este libro de Rosanvallon por el texto clásico de Bobbio sobre izquierdas y derechas, que remite a la cuestión de la igualdad la principal diferencia entre ambas orientaciones ideológicas. Los recomiendo leer juntos.
Destaco la idea final de entender la igualdad, ante todo, como una relación social y el ejemplo de la amistad es muy sugerente; en una verdadera relación de amistad la igualdad es básica y se sobrepone a las diferencias singulares de cada individuo. Esto para decir que no es necesario apostar por una semejanza en todos los aspectos entre integrantes para que exista la igualdad. El punto es que las diferencias no lleguen a ser tan grandes que impidan que la igualdad se construya como relación social. En ese sentido puede haber diferencias económicas, identitarias y de origen que pueden ser salvables en una relación de igualdad.
Y bueno, como no puede ser de otra forma, súper eurocéntrico el texto. Esperable esto último.
July 6, 2019
Rosanvallon's work deserves to be much more widely read in Anglophone countries, as it can be understood to be the political theoretical and historical complement to the economics of Thomas Piketty. (Notably, Arthur Goldhammer is the English translator for both.)
This book gives both a remarkably enlightening historical analysis of the decline of the welfare state and the egalitarian ideas which anchored it and a bold and clear roadmap for reviving those intellectual preconditions which can again animate a new form of equality that matches the challenges of the present, from climate change to emboldened xenophobia.
This book gives both a remarkably enlightening historical analysis of the decline of the welfare state and the egalitarian ideas which anchored it and a bold and clear roadmap for reviving those intellectual preconditions which can again animate a new form of equality that matches the challenges of the present, from climate change to emboldened xenophobia.
December 9, 2019
La lectura del texto de Rosanvallon me resultó cansina y difícil, no por la forma, sino en cuanto al contenido. El texto tiene excesiva notas al pie de página y para colmo de males, tiene muy poca o nula evidencia empírica. Parece que el autor desestima la triangulación entre la teoría y la base empírica. No es recomendable su lectura para aquellas personas interesadas en políticas públicas sobre Seguridad Social o Estados de Bienestar.
October 6, 2022
Lu pour un des mes cours, dans le cadre d'une fiche de lecture. Approche intéressante et pertinente, bien que très axée sur des faits philosophiques et assez peu sur les chiffres. Par ailleurs, le style manque un peu de clarté (mais bon, c'est Rosanvallon).
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April 25, 2021Superb! Shows how recent the idea of equality is and who was initially and is currently excluded from it.
September 13, 2014
"It (equality) is no longer a universal value to which everyone can lay claim, as is the case with liberty. Often, it is linked to the reductive idea of fighting over poverty. The left has lost the historic source of its strength and legitimacy. Hence the reversals that it has suffered everywhere are by no means temporary; they are structural, determined by the breakdown of equality." 8
"I therefore propose to begin by reexamining the spirit of equality as it was forged in the American and French Revolutions. Equality was then understood primarily as a relation, as a way of making a society, of producing and living in common. It was seen as a democratic quality and not merely as a measure of the distribution of wealth. This relational idea of equality was articulated in connection with three other notions: similarity, independence, and citizenship." 10
"The word "slavery" was then used in a much broader sense to describe any ostensibly intolerable situation of dependency. The connotations of the word were primarily political and social, and only in a secondary sense was it used to denote a legal regime of economic servitude." 23
"One cannot understand the spirit of equality in the American and French Revolutions without recognizing this idea of the market as an expression of liberty and a vector of equality. The market was seen as an institution of equality. The eighteenth century thus theorized the liberalism of reciprocity." 27
"I therefore propose to begin by reexamining the spirit of equality as it was forged in the American and French Revolutions. Equality was then understood primarily as a relation, as a way of making a society, of producing and living in common. It was seen as a democratic quality and not merely as a measure of the distribution of wealth. This relational idea of equality was articulated in connection with three other notions: similarity, independence, and citizenship." 10
"The word "slavery" was then used in a much broader sense to describe any ostensibly intolerable situation of dependency. The connotations of the word were primarily political and social, and only in a secondary sense was it used to denote a legal regime of economic servitude." 23
"One cannot understand the spirit of equality in the American and French Revolutions without recognizing this idea of the market as an expression of liberty and a vector of equality. The market was seen as an institution of equality. The eighteenth century thus theorized the liberalism of reciprocity." 27
June 21, 2016
Ο Rosanvallon παρουσιάζει μία ιστορική ανάλυση της κοινωνικής ανισότητας αρχόμενος από την Γαλλική Επανάσταση και έπειτα. Με εκτεταμένη βιβλιογραφία και έμφαση σε γαλλικές πηγές εμβαθύνει σε όλες τις περιόδους παρουσιάζοντας από διαφορετικές οπτικές (οικονομική, κοινωνική, ταξική, πολιτισμική, εκπαιδευτική κλπ) το διακύβευμα τις ισότητας. Η ροή διαβάσματος εναλλάσσεται. Κάποιες φορές κυλάει γρήγορα ενώ κάποιες φορές νιώθεις ότι βαλτώνεις ειδικά στην ανάλυση του για την εισοδηματική ανισότητα.
Τοποθετημένος ιδεολογικά στην αριστερά του γαλλικού σοσιαλιστικού κόμματος κατευθύνει την γραφή του με αυτή την οπτική αποτυγχάνοντας, θεωρώ, να παρουσιάσει σε βάθος την φιλελεύθερη οπτική της ανισότητας όπως αυτή εκφράστηκε από το έργο του Rawls.
Εν, κατακλείδι είναι ένα πολύ καλό βιβλίο, σε μία εξαίσια μετάφραση που προϋποθέτει αφοσίωση για να μπορέσει κάποιος να κάνει κτήμα του την επιχειρηματολογία του Rosanvallon.
Τοποθετημένος ιδεολογικά στην αριστερά του γαλλικού σοσιαλιστικού κόμματος κατευθύνει την γραφή του με αυτή την οπτική αποτυγχάνοντας, θεωρώ, να παρουσιάσει σε βάθος την φιλελεύθερη οπτική της ανισότητας όπως αυτή εκφράστηκε από το έργο του Rawls.
Εν, κατακλείδι είναι ένα πολύ καλό βιβλίο, σε μία εξαίσια μετάφραση που προϋποθέτει αφοσίωση για να μπορέσει κάποιος να κάνει κτήμα του την επιχειρηματολογία του Rosanvallon.
February 15, 2014
particularly important text, especially interesting in relation to the future, after neoliberalism whypt...
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October 17, 2014320.011 R7889 2013
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews