Free and Equal: What Would a Fair Society Look Like?

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While reading Huxley's Brave New World for my high-school English class, I obtained my very first serious interest: 'what would a good society look like?'. This book presents the best answer I've seen since I began studying economics and philosophy. Based on the work of egalitarian liberal philosopher John Rawls (which this book explains and defends, before focusing on its applications), this vision is far more attractive and intelligent than existing or proposed alternatives. After the abject failure of neoliberalism, we need a principled policy framework and handbook like this to move toward a society that is truly free, equal and prosperous. It's also heart-warming to see some of the world's leading economists (Angus Deaton, Amartya Sen) celebrate such a progressive and transformative Rawlsian agenda.

I enjoyed reading this book, but it is rather odd and I wish it was different. The premise is to provide example applications of Rawls' philosophy to improve society (with a particular focus on the UK and US). As such the first couple of chapters explain the philosophy - essentially that there exist a set of universal basic liberties which the society must guarantee to every citizen, and then anything else is fair game so long as it doesn't infringe the basic liberties and its extent is such to maximize quality of life for the least well off. For example, following Rawls, a society may allow a certain amount of wealth inequality to encourage growth and innovation, but as soon as this is damaging to the least well off the wealth should be redistributed. This is a book brimming with hope and possibility - a much-needed alternative to the cynicism that pervades our politics, setting out a 'realistic utopia' that can galvanise people from all walks of life. Free and Equal has the potential not only to transform contemporary debate, but to offer a touchstone for a modern, egalitarian liberalism for many years to come, cementing Rawls's place in political discourse, and firmly establishing Chandler as a vital new voice for our time.

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Important... skilful... Free and Equal is a shining example of how a lucid writer can make complex arguments clearer and develop practical proposals to improve society Paschal Donohoe, Irish Times A timely and thought-provoking look into society, Chandler's insights are much needed in today's world. F ree and Equal offers a well-written perspective on how we live today and provides hope in practical ways for economies to operate for the better in the future Rupal Patel While the impact of John Rawls’ work on (English-language) political philosophy in the post-war era can hardly be overstated, the same cannot be said of the sphere of public policy. Why is it so has probably a lot to do with both the complexity and rather theoretical nature of the argument, which can be quite puzzling - I remember one conversation with a prominent economist and deputy governor of a central bank in my home country about how “he is fine with the more philosophical approaches to social policy, like from Amartya Sen, but always gets lost around Rawls”. I don’t blame him.

There is of course a case for UBI (emphasised as a tool to give more power to the workers not to be afraid to quit their jobs or to retrain), but also a variation of universal inheritance (like baby bonds). The most convincing case is, however, for compulsory representations of workers on boards of companies (like is done in more tripartite systems and coordinated markets, in Germany or Austria, with a third of board seats in smaller companies and a half in bigger ones) as well as workers’ cooperatives like the Mondragon Corporation in Spain - and Chandler proposes a few policies that would encourage this shared ownership model, through specialised banks creating financing for employee buyouts. The argumentation in this part was for me the most useful part of the book, providing a imaginative justification for policies achieving equity through relatively novel means. In this very timely and refreshing book, Daniel Chandler argues that rather than abandon liberalism we must reimagine it. Free and Equal asks big questions about how human society should be organised, and offers answers all of us should take seriously, whatever our politics Jesse Norman MP It is a claim that will likely raise eyebrows even within the discipline. When I interviewed Marc Stears, a political theorist who left a post at the University of Oxford to be an adviser to the then Labour leader Ed Miliband, he listed Rawls among the thinkers he left behind in the ivory tower: ‘There was no day where a bit of Rawls helped me’. The arguments in Free and Equal suggest that statement was a little too hasty and dismissive – demonstrating how Rawls can be used to speak to modern political issues. Yet the book falls short of demonstrating Rawls’ theories are anything like necessary or essential, and that they can provide the sort of holistic vision Chandler thinks we need. Imagine: you are designing a society, but you don’t know who you’ll be within it – rich or poor, man or woman, gay or straight.

Rawls has dominated English-language political philosophy for the last fifty years with a theory of ‘liberal egalitarianism’ that balances basic political and personal freedoms with an insistence that inequalities are justified only if they benefit the worst-off in society. Yet as Chandler sees it, his influence on ‘real politics’ has been limited by the ascendency of neoliberalism and the challenge of translating his abstract principles into practical policy. Now, though, Chandler argues, ‘there is an urgent need and appetite’ for Rawls’ ideas, which are ‘uniquely suited to the challenges we face today’ (8).

In this very timely and refreshing book, Daniel Chandler argues that rather than abandon liberalism we must reimagine it. Free and Equal asks big questions about how human society should be organised, and offers answers all of us should take seriously, whatever our politics -- Jesse Norman MP Free and Equal is a book of two halves. The first half is an admirably clear exposition of Rawls’ central ideas. It lays out his conception of a fair society: one in which basic freedoms are protected, genuinely fair equality of opportunity is secured, and, beyond that, the economic structure prioritises the needs of the most disadvantaged. It is perfectly pitched for a non-specialist audience, and I would happily assign the book as reading if I were teaching Rawls to undergraduates. Chandler highlights ideas easily missed or misunderstood in Rawls that are particularly salient today, like his emphasis on intergenerational justice and his recognition that economic inequalities are about power and status as well as wealth and income. A magnificent attempt to apply fundamental philosophical principles to the practical building of a better world. Far-reaching and well-evidenced, it offers a new, coherent, principles-based approach to policy design Professor Lord Richard LayardTaking Rawls’s humane and egalitarian liberalism as his starting point, Chandler builds a careful and ultimately irresistible case for a progressive agenda that would fundamentally reshape our societies for the better. Change the plan you will roll onto at any time during your trial by visiting the “Settings & Account” section. What happens at the end of my trial?

A beautifully written and compelling argument that Rawlsian political philosophy can heal our broken societies and make us, indeed, free and equal Professor Sir Angus Deaton, winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics and author of Deaths of Despair A brilliantly eloquent, incredibly insightful reimagining of liberalism, and by such a compelling writer Owen Jonesyou are designing a society, but you don't know who you'll be within it - rich or poor, man or woman, gay or straight. What would you want that society to look like? To be fair, in some cases Chandler’s recommendations flow naturally from Rawls’ work in ways that seem prescient given our current challenges. For example, Chandler’s call for a written constitution makes sense as a way to recognise the priority Rawls gives to basic liberties, and to make the protection of individual rights less precarious, given recent efforts to scrap the Human Rights Act. His discussion of Rawlsian ‘public reason’ – to simplify, the notion that our democratic arguments should be couched in terms of political values everyone can accept rather than controversial moral or religious worldviews – has obvious relevance to ongoing ‘culture war’ issues. A tremendous book, timely, wise, authoritative and clear' Stephen Fry'A brilliantly eloquent, incredibly insightful reimagining of liberalism' Owen Jones'Clear, brave, compelling' David Miliband'Inspiring ... impassioned ... full of hope' Zadie Smith'This is a fantastic book' Thomas PikettyImagine: you are designing a society, but you don't know who you'll be within it - rich or poor, man or woman, gay or straight. So long as workers do not control their own lives at work, Karl Marx and his followers would argue, all this would amount only to making them well-off slaves. So Chandler ends with an engaging chapter on workplace democracy. He is unfazed by the evidence that when British workers have been offered a choice between higher pay and more workplace democracy they have usually plumped for higher pay. The solution, he says, is to devise forms of participation that are cost-free to workers. That seems right. Evidence suggests that German workplaces, where a higher degree of democracy prevails than in British ones, are happier and more productive than their counterparts in the UK.