The ideas of equity and equality are all over the news, yet there seems to be little agreement on what exactly each term means. Political theorist and intellectual historian Teresa Bejan of Oriel College, Oxford discusses the origins of our notions of equality, from the Roman Empire to the present, focusing particularly on Early Modernity and the influence of the French Revolution and English political movements like the Levellers, Diggers, and Quakers. Along the way, she uncovers surprising facts like the relationship between equality and hierarchy, and that Marx was not as pro-equality as is now popularly believed.

Her recent 3-part Charles E. Test lecture series for the Madison Program, “First Among Equals”

Her book Mere Civility: Disagreement and the Limits of Toleration (Harvard UP, 2019).

Annika Nordquist is the Communications Coordinator of Princeton University’s James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions and host of the Program’s podcast, Madison’s Notes.