Equality via Mobility: Why Socioeconomic Mobility Matters for Relational Equality, Distributive Equality, and Equality of Opportunity

Publication Date

1-1-2015

Document Type

Article

Organizational Units

Sturm College of Law

Keywords

Social mobility, Economic mobility, Relational equality, Equality of opportunity, John Rawls

Abstract

Since the economic crisis of 2008, think tanks have pursued research into the causes and effects of socioeconomic mobility; columnists and bloggers like Paul Krugman, Tyler Cowen, and Reihan Salam have debated whether mobility is desirable; and politicians — from both ends of the political spectrum and both sides of the Atlantic — have emphasized mobility’s importance. In contrast, socioeconomic mobility has received little attention from philosophers, who have instead focused their attention on social and economic inequality.

Share

COinS