Publication Type
Journal Article
Version
publishedVersion
Publication Date
5-2026
Abstract
This article offers a Confucian conception of ownership and a different approach to equality based on a concept of relational person that could provide an alternative philosophical framework for economic democracy. The Confucian concept of nonexclusive and nonabsolute co-ownership, conditional on owners fulfilling their social responsibilities and sustained in networks of relationships mitigates the drive to appropriation and resistance to redistribution even without formalizing legal rights of equal ownership. Confucian texts’ condemnation of wide disparities between rich and poor corresponds with distributive ideas that balance equal satisfaction of needs with merit-based incentives for productivity constrained by social harmony. Without advocating democracy directly, Confucian philosophy contains insights for contemporary inquiries into the crises of democratic polities and market societies.
Keywords
Confucianism, democracy, equality, meritocracy, ownership, relational persons
Discipline
Ethics and Political Philosophy
Areas of Excellence
Growth in Asia
Publication
Democratic Theory: An Interdisciplinary Journal
First Page
1
Last Page
19
ISSN
2332-8894
Identifier
10.1017/S2332889426000278
Publisher
Cambridge University Press
Citation
TAN, Sor-hoon.(2026). Towards Confucian economic democracy: A relational alternative to possessive individualism. Democratic Theory: An Interdisciplinary Journal, , 1-19.
Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/4455
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
Additional URL
https://doi.org/10.1017/S2332889426000278