On Difference and Equality
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 23237337 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Cynthia V Ward (Arizona State University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 1997 |
| Volume | 3 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 65-99 |
| Publication date | 1997-03-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Legal Theory (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1352-3252 • E-ISSN: 1469-8048 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s1352325200000641 |
| OpenAlex | W2020523815 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 4 |
| References cited | 34 |
The concept of “difference” forms the core of contemporary attacks on “liberal legalism” and is central to proposals for replacing it. Critics charge that liberal law quashes difference because it grounds political equality and individual rights in the assumption that all persons share certain “samenesses,” such as rationality or autonomy. In the words of the philosopher Iris Marion Young, “liberal individualism denies difference by positing the self as a solid, self-sufficient unity, not defined by or in need of anything or anyone other than itself.” The claim is that this “sameness”-based vision of equality is in fact an exercise of power, reflecting a highly specific model of personhood that was constructed by and for a white male elite and ensures its continued social dominance. Liberalism's critics conclude that the achievement of social justice will be possible only when sameness-based conceptions of equality are rejected.
Autonomy · Dominance (genetics) · Economic Justice · Elite · Epistemology · Individualism · Law and economics · Legalism (Western philosophy) · Liberalism · Personhood · Political science · Politics · Rationality · Social equality · Sociology · Law · Law in Society and Culture · Multicultural Socio-Legal Studies · Philosophy · Political Philosophy and Ethics
A Theory of Justice
Liberalism and the Limits of Justice
Polity and Group Difference
The Theory and Practice of Autonomy
Liberal Purposes
Justice and the Politics of Difference
Jurisprudence and Gender
Justice and the Politics of Difference
Two Senses of Autonomy
Race and Essentialism in Feminist Legal Theory
Sexual Orientation and the Politics of Biology
A Cultural Pluralist Case for Affirmative Action in Legal Academia
Beyond the Republican Revival
Reconstructing Sexual Equality
| Unique citing works | 4 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0.14 |
| Citation span | 1998 - 2023 (26) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 4 |