Reconciling equality and pluralism: an agenda for the developed societies

Abstract

Why did developed societies not foresee the dilemma of reconciling equality and pluralism until now? This is the basic question the present paper asks and tries to answer. Yet before doing so it has to clarify three questions. First, the adjective ‘developed’ calls for some clarifications, in spite of the fact that it is frequently used both by experts and the lay public. Second, it is necessary to specify the sense in which the concepts equality and pluralism, are used. Third, the paper must provide the rationale for the compelling need for a New Agenda. [author's abstract]