ABSTRACT
There are several important secondary ideas in Inequality Reexamined. One of these is that equality and liberty are not in opposition to each other, when equality is understood through capabilities. Amartya Sen's understanding of democracy and collective process freedoms is also important. Sen begins with the idea that equality and liberty are not opposites. It is vital, he says, that when any society attempts to come up with a list of capabilities, public reasoning and deliberation on the matter should be central. The argument is that when equality is viewed as specific variables (such as income or utility), it can impinge on someone's freedom to choose what variable really is important. Sen does draw on Marx to discuss class and he specifies the importance of class analysis in examining inequality. Sen applies the capability framework to distinct areas of inquiry such as class analysis, gender analysis, poverty and social welfare.
