^aFaculty of Law, University of Antwerp, Venusstraat 23, Antwerp BE-2000, Belgium. E-mail: sylvie.loriaux@gmail.com

Abstract

This article aims at showing that a plausible conception of global equality of opportunity can be constructed. It starts from the observation that abandoning any egalitarian commitments at the global level would amount to leaving the potential unfairness of global market competitions unaddressed. It then argues that one of the most important objections that has been raised to the ideal of global equality of opportunity — namely, the unavailability of an adequate cross-cultural standard of comparison — can be avoided (at least to a certain extent) if we adopt a 'competitive' conception of equality of opportunity. Applied to the global economic context, this conception demands that all equally talented and motivated persons who participate in the global economic order should have a roughly equal chance to enjoy the fruits of global economic interactions, irrespective of the society to which they belong. It places two kinds of demands upon the global rich: (1) ensuring that global economic rules duly represent the interests of all the parties concerned, and (2) ensuring that all the persons who participate in the global economic order are given the capacity to acquire the talents that predict success in the global marketplace.