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The Equality of Social Envies

University of Warwick, Christina.Hughes{at}warwick.ac.uk

Although envy is commonly understood as such a vice that it is listed as one of the seven deadly sins, envy is a site where concerns over inequalities and exploitation are articulated. In addition, although we often correlate envy with the expression of illegitimate resentments, this is not necessarily always the case. Cer tain forms of envious feelings can be viewed as arising quite legitimately in response to distributive inequalities. However, the moral meanings associated with envy not only impact upon what is discursively possible but also affect how such sentiments are heard.Thus, judgments of moral wor th can effectively silence, rather than open up, concerns around inequalities. Similarly, legitimate expressions about the inequities of distributive justice can be heard as envious talk. In exploring this terrain, this ar ticle draws on the potentiality of social envies to explore lay meanings of classed and gendered inequalities and the emergence of new social resentments.

Key Words: class • envy • gender • inequality • lay meanings

Sociology, Vol. 41, No. 2, 347-363 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/0038038507074979


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