Date: 25 September 2024
Time: 10:00-11:45
Venue: Institute for Futures Studies, Holländargatan 13 in Stockholm
Research seminar with Michael Grätz, associate professor at the Swedish Institute for Social Research, Stockholm University. He is also a SNSF professor at the University of Lausanne. His current SNSF/ERC Starting Grant project explores novel ways to measure different conceptions of equality of opportunity.
Abstract
Political philosophy has developed different conceptions of equality of opportunity, but empirical research measuring social inequalities has rarely distinguished between them. I argue that a crucial distinction can be made between liberal and radical equality of opportunity. Liberal equality of opportunity argues that everyone with the same abilities and effort should have the same life chances, whereas radical equality of opportunity regards as unfair the effect on life chances of any factor beyond the individual’s control, including the abilities someone is born with. I report results measuring liberal and radical equality of opportunity in the United States, Germany, and Sweden. The empirical estimates compare liberal and radical inequality of opportunity in different outcomes, including education, occupation, income, wealth, and health. In all countries, the differences between liberal and radical equality of opportunity are large. From the perspective of liberal equality of opportunity, the U.S., Germany, and Sweden are rather just societies, while their degree of radical inequality of opportunity is high.
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