Social equality

Social equality is a state of affairs in which all individuals within society have equal rights, liberties, and status, possibly including civil rights, freedom of expression, autonomy, and equal access to certain public goods and social services.

Social equality requires the absence of legally enforced social class or caste boundaries, along with an absence of discrimination motivated by an inalienable part of an individual's identity.[1] Advocates of social equality believe in equality before the law for all individuals regardless of many aspects. These aspects include but are not limited to, sex, gender, ethnicity, age, sexual orientation, origin, caste or class, income or property, language, religion, convictions, opinions, health, disability,[2][3]trade union membership, political views, parental status, mores, family or marital status, and any other grounds.[4] These are some different types of social equality:[5]

  • Formal equality: equal opportunity for individuals based on merit.
  • Substantive equality: equality of outcomes for groups, also called social equity.
  1. ^ Blackford, Russell (20 July 2006), "Genetic enhancement and the point of social equality", Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies
  2. ^ Gosepath, Stefan (2021), "Equality", in Zalta, Edward N. (ed.), The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Summer 2021 ed.), Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University, retrieved 6 July 2021
  3. ^ Gruen, Lori (2021), "The Moral Status of Animals", in Zalta, Edward N. (ed.), The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Summer 2021 ed.), Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University, retrieved 6 July 2021
  4. ^ Directorate-General for Justice and Consumers (European Commission); European network of legal experts in gender equality and non-discrimination; Chopin, Isabelle; Germaine, Catharina (2017). A comparative analysis of non-discrimination law in Europe 2017: the 28 EU Member States, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Montenegro, Norway, Serbia and Turkey compared. Publications Office of the European Union. doi:10.2838/52129. ISBN 978-92-79-75353-4.
  5. ^ De Vos, M. (2020). The European Court of Justice and the march towards substantive equality in European Union anti-discrimination law. International Journal of Discrimination and the Law, 20(1), 62-87.