Inequality and domination or servitude: the case of domestic service

Abstract

The growing interest in the question on inequality has brought to the centre of attention the well-known debate formulated by Amartya Sen: inequality of what? The various versions of the inequality measurement system that have emerged in recent years reflect not only the complexity of the problem, but also the refined results that have been reached. This paper deals with a version born out of the work of Rousseau, for whom the problem of inequality is not so much one of income or wealth as one of domination or servitude. This approach, known as “democratic or republican equality” in debates on distributive justice, can be measured by the purchasing power of a typical worker engaged in personal services by the upper income group.