been controversial. For some, equalization has affected only
civil rights and voting rights; for others, it has extended into
the socioeconomic sphere. People who are systematically
handicapped by poverty from making the most of their citizenship
rights are deemed on this view to have been relegated
to second-class status, necessitating remedial action
through equalization. But through all the differences of interpretation,
the principle of equal citizenship has come to
be universally accepted. Every position, no matter how reactionary,
is now defended under the colors of this principle.
Its greatest, most recent victory was won by the civil rights
movement of the 1960s in the United States. It is worth noting
that even the adversaries of extending voting rights to
blacks in the southern states found some pretext consistent
with universalism, such as “tests” to be administered to
would-be voters at the time of registration.
By contrast, the second change, the development of the
modern notion of identity, has given rise to a politics of difference.
There is, of course, a universalist basis to this as
well, making for the overlap and confusion between the two.
Everyone should be recognized for his or her unique identity.
But recognition here means something else. With the politics
of equal dignity, what is established is meant to be universally
the same, an identical basket of rights and immunities;
with the politics of difference, what we are asked to recognize
is the unique identity of this individual or group, their
distinctness from everyone else. The idea is that it is precisely
this distinctness that has been ignored, glossed over,
assimilated to a dominant or majority identity. And this assimilation
is the cardinal sin against the ideal of authenticity.15