Equality, a French passion?

Summary French society is going through a major economic crisis. Between "long-term" unemployment, for some, and sky-high incomes for others, inequalities are exacerbated. The "insatiable passion for equality", which Alexis de Tocqueville associated with democratic peoples' "natural taste for liberty", is said to be dulled. Such an observation deserves to be questioned, because equality is not a simple matter of arithmetic. Far from hasty judgments, this work shows, on the contrary, that the French do not give in to demagogic ease. Their wishes are as far from a pure meritocracy as from an absolute egalitarianism. It is true that their confidence is affected by the current difficulties, but they hold fast to the principles of social justice. So how are social inequalities perceived? What principles of justice are called upon to judge them? And what improvements are desired? Based on a representative survey and a series of in-depth qualitative interviews, this book presents and analyzes the responses of the French to these questions. (Editor's summary).