Standardization of National Bereavement Rights Compromises Minorities’ Civic Equality

Abstract

ABSTRACT Standardization is a mechanism used to create uniformity and express the equal status of citizens facing governmental institutions. However, when standardization in various life aspects ignores fundamental differences between groups and individuals, it might increase inequality, compromise justice, and create explicit or implicit discrimination. This study exposes the mistake of identifying standardization with equality by looking at a specific and complex human situation. The linkage between standards and justice will be examined through three angles: philosophical, economic, and social. As a case study we will examine the case of Bedouin IDF widows. This group of women suffers from the uniformity of rights granted to widows of IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) soldiers, since the benefits included within these rights are not suitable to their lifestyle. We will demonstrate how culture-insensitive standards distort distributive justice and prevent certain groups, usually marginal and excluded ones, from accessing the resources and benefits to which they are entitled. We will claim that only a policy that considers personal, social, and cultural needs will enable true democratic equality, as opposed to technical, bureaucratic uniformity; and that only considering the two sides of the standardization coin will lead to genuine equity, which recognizes diversity and acknowledges its social value.