Redistribution and recognition from the point of view of real equality: Anderson and Honneth through the lens of Babeuf

Elizabeth Anderson and Axel Honneth both propound ‘relational’ models of equality and freedom to criticize mainstream distributivist theories of justice. Anderson does this by retrieving the republican and Honneth the socialist tradition. Yet both traditions also focused on another key concern of justice, namely ‘real equality’. The chapter begins by comparing Anderson’s and Honneth’s models, and what the overlaps and differences between them mean for issues of recognition and redistribution. In the second part, the chapter turns to the writings of Gracchus Babeuf, the most radical and consistent defender of ‘real equality’, to highlight shortcomings in Anderson’s and Honneth’s own theories of justice.