What is the relation between rights and egalitarian justice? There is a perception that the two pull in different directions, perhaps because rights are often conceptualised as individual entitlements and/or as deontological constraints while egalitarian theories of justice are taken to propose teleological principles whose satisfaction might infringe individual rights. Is this perception warranted? Are rights and egalitarianism in tension with each other or might they be compatible? Can principles of egalitarian justice be translated into (individual) rights and if so, should they?

One area where rights and egalitarianism appear to converge is equality of opportunity. Formal equality of opportunity, at least, can easily be translated into individual rights against discrimination. But equality of opportunity might require more than the rights against discrimination currently recognised in many jurisdictions; it might also require rights against socio-economic or class-based discrimination, which might be difficult to conceptualise and/or implement.

The 2nd REAL workshop seeks to address these and any other questions about the relation between rights and egalitarianism. The schedule is as follows:

June 19
11 – 11.15 – Welcome and introductions
11. 15 – 12.45 – Showkat Ali – ‘An institutional account of fair equality of opportunity’
12.45 – 2 – Lunch
2-3.30 – Timo Juetten – ‘The harms of unfair competition’
3.30-3.45 – coffee
3.45 – 5.15 – Emily McTernan – ‘Equality and the right to dissociate’
7 p.m. conference dinner

June 20
9.30 – 11 –Kasper Lippert-Rasmussen ( with Bastian Steuwer ) – ‘Poverty discrimination’
11.00-11.15 – coffee
11.15- 12.45 – Shalom Chalson – ‘Discounting people for reasons that shouldn’t count’
12.45 – 2.00 – lunch
2- 3.30 – Matthew Palynchuk – ‘Distributive justice and the distributive view of disability’
3.30 – 3.45 – coffee
3.45 – 5.15 – Adi Goldiner – ‘From Disability Accommodations to Structural Modifications:
The Case of Extended Time on Exams’