Imagining unequals, imagining equals: concepts of equality in history and law

Why did »equality« become prominent in European societies based on hierarchy during the Enlightenment? What does »equality« imply for societies, politics or legal systems? The contributors explore concepts of equality from the perspectives of history and law and draw on the idea that practices of comparing were essential when it came to imagining others as equal, fighting discrimination, or scandalising social inequalities. Among others, Lynn Hunt, Helmut Walser Smith and David Keane investigate visionary practices in revolutionary France, the collection of data on the poor in 19th-century Germany, the claims raised under the minority regime of the League of Nations, and the anti-discrimination politics of the United Nations and India

Cover -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Concepts of Equality: Why, Who, What for? -- Hierarchy as Order-Equality as Chaos? -- Envisioning Equality in the French Revolution -- "A Deep, Horizontal Comradeship?" -- Minority Protection under the League of Nations: Universal and Particular Equality -- Equality through the Lens of Racial Discrimination -- India, the UN and Caste as a Form of Racial Discrimination: Resolving the Dispute -- Equality under the Indian Constitution -- Authors and Editors.

Why did »equality« become prominent in European societies based on hierarchy during the Enlightenment? What does »equality« imply for societies, politics, or legal systems? The contributors to this volume draw on various historical case studies, from visionary practices in revolutionary France and the collection of data on the poor in 19th-century Germany, to claims raised under the minority regime of the League of Nations and the anti-discrimination politics of the UN and India. The dynamics of universalizing equality are contrasted with a concept asserting that equality must be limited to and by order. The contributions thus explore concepts of equality from the perspectives of history and law and show that practices of comparing were essential when it came to imagining others as equal, fighting discrimination, or scandalizing social inequalities.