Basic equality as a post‐revolutionary requisite: The circumstances that are to be taken into consideration in the wake of the Arab Spring

Abstract

Purpose

The Arab Spring poses challenges to governments of the countries involved; the author aims to present a way to respond to them. To this end, the notion of “basic equality” is proffered as a decisive element to be realized in a democratic form of government, democracy itself being necessary if one seeks to evade a return to the former forms of government.

Design/methodology/approach

No single answer suffices to realize stable while generally acceptable forms of government; basic equality is shown to be a necessary starting point in each case, to be supplemented by specific policies. The practical implications of the article's analysis are evidenced in the limitations governments must recognize and warrant: through legislation, basic equality is to be realized.

Findings

People's (formal) equality must be acknowledged. It may be difficult to reconcile this demand with, for example, religious convictions, but it is not necessary to compromise what one believes. One need only act in accordance with the dictates of formal equality, which is the corollary of basic equality. For example, an employer only has to treat his employees equally, and may, accordingly, not distinguish between race, gender or religion, but he is not required to believe that people are, in some fundamental sense, equal.

Originality/value

Equal treatment has often been proposed as a “moral” directive. The author presents a realistic alternative to this approach while realizing a state of affairs in which people are treated equally. Since this alternative is based on their self‐interest, this will lead to both a convincing theory and a viable practice.

Citation

Doomen, J. (2013), "Basic equality as a post‐revolutionary requisite: The circumstances that are to be taken into consideration in the wake of the Arab Spring", International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, Vol. 33 No. 7/8, pp. 400-409. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSSP-10-2012-0088