ABSTRACT

Difference is what makes compromise difficult. This chapter assesses the expectations of equality in compromise and argues that equality certainly cannot be taken for granted. Although they may be formally equal in principle, parties to a compromise may be extremely unequal in various substantive ways: financial resources, political authority and negotiation skills, for example. It is thus problematic to assume that the starting points, the negotiation process and the sacrifices it ordains will be equally weighted between the parties. 'Meeting halfway' is frequently a delicate, demanding, and at times, an impossible undertaking. Compromise can be understood in terms of social capital that may act to benefit society as a whole but also serves to perpetuate inequality within that society. Capital in general constitutes a form of resource and is most commonly understood to exist in physical manifestation, as property, tools or machines, or its financial manifestation as money.