Formal citizenship equality coexists with inequality that provokes social conflict

Evidence

Citizenship is anyway paradoxical. On the one hand, it organizes the formal equality of all citizens in the face of the law. They all theoretically enjoy the same rights and duties. Citizenship is thus a form of social incorporation and a necessary condition for social integration. But on the other hand, persistent social and economic inequalities hinder the exercise of citizenship rights for those social classes located at the lower end of the class structure. This paradox can engender frustration and lead to social conflict when formally recognized rights cannot be satisfactorily exercised by all social groups (Turner, The Main Challenges to Modern Citizenship Political, social, economic, and cultural conditions which characterized the context in which modern citizenship developed have largely been altered in the last decades. — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 824

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the paradox-of-citizenship literature and to Marshall’s social citizenship discussed in this same chapter. — connects to: Formal legal equality obscures real inequality because equivalence as a legal norm ignores difference — Dirk Braunstein, Adorno’s Critique of Political Economy, 786; Formal legal equality leaves substantive social inequality untouched — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 959; Formal legal equality cannot deliver justice without social equality — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 958 (+4 more)