Despite the high level of welfare in liberal-democratic societies, these societies still question themselves on the meaning of equality, the nature and causes of inequalities, as well as on the kinds of policies that are likely to reduce them. Within the current global context, characterised by rapid movements of people, goods, capital and ideas, inequalities appear to be less tied to specific places than only a few decades ago, and appear increasingly structured along identity axes, such as gender, ethnicity, age, (dis)ability, sexual preference, class.

The key role that identities play in shaping inequality is indicated by the thriving political and academic debates on such concepts as diversity, multiculturalism, integration, intersectionality, autonomy, empowerment and inclusion. These notions have inspired new approaches to equality policies, which today face the challenging task of fostering equality. They need to find shared principles while taking into account increasingly complex individual and collective positions, expectations and needs embedded in multiple social, economic and political relations crossing national borders and evolving over time. The great difficulty that equality faces derives from, on the one hand, the increasing recognition of the legitimate existence of ‘difference’ along multiple identity lines and, on the other, the need to disconnect such differences from power inequalities, thus establishing fairer institutional arrangements for all.

The second 'Equal is Not Enough' Conference seeks to contribute to the understanding of the causes, consequences and the underlying dynamics of inequalities, as well as to the understanding of contemporary policies to combat them. In challenging differences and inequalities in contemporary societies, the conference addresses different grounds of inequality, such as gender, ethnicity, sexual preference, disability, class, and age, and also focuses on the comparison and intersection that can be drawn between them. It does so in four different streams, paying particular attention to law, public policies, organisations and the life course as such. Key note lectures will be given by Prof. dr. Myra Marx Ferree, Prof. dr. Sara Ahmed and Prof. dr. Christa Tobler.

The Policy Research Centre on Equal Opportunities (PRCEO) cordially invites scholars from various disciplines and approaches to participate in this conference. The call for papers is closed.