Equality, dignity and fairness: Brazilian citizenship in comparative perspective

Abstract

Taking up a tension between two conceptions of equality in Brazil, the article argues that focusing on the idea of equality of treatment as the main parameter to assess the exercise of citizenship in Western Democracies may not be sufficient to elucidate the demands for respecting rights or the demonstrations of indignation prompted by the perception of insult when legitimate expectations of recognition and considerateness are not observed. It is further argued that demands of citizenship rights must me understood in the interplay between notions of equality, dignity and fairness, which are local categories, dependent on local civic sensibilities.