The Theory and Practice of Equality

An Interdisciplinary Conference on Equality,

Held at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University

April 1-3, 2004

Organized by Mathias Risse, Harvard University , in collaboration with Jonathan Wolff, University College , London

Thursday, April 1

9-10.30: Disability in a Society of Equals

Chair: Sarah Song, Political Science, MIT

Speaker: Jonathan Wolff, Philosophy, University College , London

Commentator: Frances Kamm, Kennedy School of Government and Department of Philosophy, Harvard University

10.45-12.15: Equality of Social Functionings

Chair: Ingrid Robeyns, Political Science, University of Amsterdam

Speaker: Marc Fleurbaye, Economics, University of Pau

Commentator: Dan Hausman, Philosophy, University of Wisconsin , Madison

1.45 – 3.15: Aspects of Individual Freedom in Sen

Chair: Jane Mansbridge, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University

Speaker: Sabina Alkire, Global Equity Initiative, Harvard University

Commentator: Peter Vallentyne, Philosophy, University of Missouri - Columbia

3.30 – 5: Homer Gets a Tax Cut: Inequality and Public Policy in the American Mind

Chair: Nancy Rosenblum, Government Department, Harvard University

Speaker: Larry Bartels, Politics, Princeton University

Commentator: Annabelle Lever, Philosophy and Public Policy, University College , London

Friday, April 2

9.15 – 11: When Equality?

Chair: Brian Barry , Politics, Columbia University

Speaker: Thomas Scanlon, Philosophy, Harvard University

Commentator: Jennifer Hochschild, Department of Government, Harvard University

11.15 – 1: What Does it Take to be an Egalitarian about Health?

Chair: Martha Minow, Law, Harvard University

Speaker: Norman Daniels, School of Public Health , Harvard University

Commentator: Joshua Cohen, Politics and Philosophy, MIT

2.30 - 4.15: Should We Want a World in which Family Background Doesn't Matter?

Chair: Alexander Capellen, Economics, University of Oslo

Speaker: Christopher Jencks, Kennedy School of Government , Harvard University

Commentator: Michael Hout, Sociology, University of California , Berkeley

4.30 – 6.15: Rawls and Responsibility

Chair: Thomas Christiano, Philosophy, University of Arizona

Speakers: Michael Blake and Mathias Risse, Kennedy School of Government , Harvard University

Commentator: Daniel Markovits, Law, Yale University

Saturday, April 3

9.15 – 11: Choice, Circumstance, and the Value of Equality

Chair: Arthur Applbaum, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University

Speaker: Samuel Scheffler, Philosophy, University of California , Berkeley

Commentator: Richard Arneson , Philosophy, University of California , San Diego

11.15 – 1: Race and Distribution: A Solution to the Problem of American Exceptionalism

Chair: Kanchan Chandra, Politics, MIT

Speakers: John Roemer and Woojin Lee, Politics and Economics, Yale University

Commentator: Michael Wallerstein, Politics, Northwestern University

2.30 - 4.15: Children, School, and Equality of Opportunity

Chair: Dan Brock, School of Public Health , Harvard University

Speaker: Debra Satz, Philosophy, Stanford University

Commentator: Stefan Gosepath, Philosophy, University of Potsdam

4.30 – 6.15: Justice and Insurance

Chair: Veronique Munoz-Dardé

Speaker: Andrew Williams , Philosophy, University of Reading

Commentator: Bertil Thungodden, Economics, Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration

This conference is made possible by generous support from the Harvard Initiative for Justice, Welfare, and Economics, the Harvard University Provost's Fund for Interfaculty Collaboration, the University Center for Ethics and the Professions, the John F. Kennedy School of Government, the Department of Political Science and the Dean's Office of the School of Humanities , Arts, and Social Science at MIT. We are most grateful to all of them.

First workshop: UCL, April 2003

Second workshop: UCL September 2003

Fourth workshop: UCL September 15th-16th, 2004 (enquiries j.wolff@ucl.ac.uk)