What is Equality?

What if the crisis that political institutions are facing was first a crisis in the model of equality that they are applying? Born out of a European tradition that has always considered the world according to humans, and only under the guise of goods that could be discussed, exchanged and commodified, our understanding of equality fails to acknowledge the diversity of realities, experiences and even beings in the world. In order to grasp the complexities of our societies, entangled in a growing web of people and things, we need to learn new ways of putting the ‘equal’ sign between them – ways that don’t posit humans as the alpha and omega of politics. It is only by reaching a form of equality of all things, respecting diversity without trying to unify, that we will be able to render justice to all beings – and to rebuild the institutions that are supposed to shelter and nurture them.

Wang Hui
is professor at Tsinghua University (Beijing). One of the leading world intellectuals, he has held visiting professorships at Harvard, Stanford, UCLA, Berkeley and many other institutions. His awards include the Luca Pacioli Prize and the Anneliese Maier Award. His last book in English is The Rise of Modern Chinese Thought (Harvard UP, 2023).