Equality is produced by political organization, not given by nature

Evidence

Since the Greeks, we have known that highly developed political life breeds a deep-rooted suspicion of this private sphere, a deep resentment against the disturbing miracle contained in the fact that each of us is made as he is—single, unique, unchangeable. This whole sphere of the merely given, relegated to private life in civilized society, is a permanent threat to the public sphere, because the public sphere is as consistently based on the law of equality as the private sphere is based on the law of universal difference and differentiation. Equality, in contrast to all that is involved in mere existence, is not given us, but is the result of human organization insofar as it is guided by the principle of justice. We are not bom equal; we become equal as members of a group on the strength of our decision to guarantee ourselves mutually equal rights. — Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 736

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines Arendt’s core distinction between the given private sphere (difference) and the organized public sphere (equality) — a foundational scaffolding concept tied to the later rights-of-man analysis.
• XREF: Directly undergirds the Islamophobia field’s critique that ‘equal rights’ are a political construction that can be revoked from racialized groups — connects to the later nation-state chapters and to readings on citizenship as contingent status. — connects to: Equality must govern politics even though it is technically a fiction; True equality among people is impossible due to inescapable uniqueness — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 187; The Volksgemeinschaft meant equality of nature, not of rights, for Germans (+6 more)
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Hannah Arendt, The Origins of Totalitarianism, 736

Broader Connections

• Equality must govern politics even though it is technically a fiction #qualifies (0.85)
• True equality among people is impossible due to inescapable uniqueness #contradicts (0.80) — Georg Simmel, on individuality and social forms_…, 187
• The Volksgemeinschaft meant equality of nature, not of rights, for Germans #exemplifies (0.72)