An egalitarian society is a society that believes in treating people equally through giving people equal rights and opportunities. This belief is referred to as egalitarianism, which advocates human equality, with respect to economic, political and social rights. It also pushes for elimination of any form of inequality in the society and discrimination based on gender, race, religion, sexual orientation and the like.
The term egalitarianism is derived from the French word "egal," meaning equal. In 18th century, the term "equalitarianism" was also commonly used to refer to it. There are several political philosophies that back the theory of egalitarianism to some extent, including communism, socialism, anarchism and Marxism. Most people believe that political influence resides in the hands of a few people, while others argue that a representative democracy is based on political egalitarianism.
The different types of egalitarianism include political, moral, luck, economic, opportunity, racial, Christian, gender and moral egalitarianism. Each type of egalitarianism advocates equality in the specific area it focuses. For example, economic egalitarianism pushes for equality in access to economic resources by all people in the society. Christian egalitarianism states all people are equal in the eyes of God and also teaches on gender equality in marriage and leadership.
