"Take political freedom away and equality becomes a lost project"

On 15 March, 2018, Michael Walzer, Professor Emeritus at the Institute for Advanced Study of Princeton and prominent American political theorist, spoke at Sciences Po on “Freedom and Equality: can the two stand together?”

“[Professor Walzer’s] articles and books […] are examples of what political commitment, social criticism, and political theory are supposed to be,” said Astrid Von Busekist, Professor of Political Theory at Sciences Po, as she introduced the world renowned Professor.

Professor Walzer’s fascinating, astute and quick-witted talk explored the relations of dictatorship, revolutionary regimes and inequality, and the balance of political and economic freedom in different global contexts.

"The first inequality of the revolutionary regime is the inequality of knowledge."

After briefly discussing Marxist theory, he stated: “Political inequality is freestanding – autonomous – and it always generates new inequalities throughout the social order. […] The first inequality of the revolutionary regime is the inequality of knowledge.”

As he quoted Thomas Hobbes and the poet William Butler Yates, a full auditorium listened attentively to the analysis of the prominent intellectual.

“Revolutionary history and universal history confirm the teaching that there is a steady tendency in societies to produce and reproduce hierarchy. Families rise and fall but hierarchical relations are perpetuated over time; they are a constant feature of human life.”

Nonetheless, the political theorist reassured his captivated listeners by reminding that insurgent movements, such as the labour movement, the civil rights movement, the feminist movement, and many more to come, do arise, and these subsurgencies – even when only partially successful – contribute to making society more equal.

"Take political freedom away and equality becomes a lost project."

Professor Walzer concluded his talk by underlining the crucial link between freedom and equality: “Freedom is itself a pleasure; it’s a good thing to feel free, to make personal decisions free of external coercion, but in the realm of politics, the value of freedom is collective and enabling. It makes it possible for men and women to join together and claim equal standing. Take political freedom away and equality becomes a lost project.”