Atlas / Comparisons / Islamic State vs Social Liberalism
Islamic State and Social Liberalism
Measured distance across six axes
Opposite ends of the recorded space. They agree within three points on EC. They diverge by eight points or more on CU, AU, ID, CH.
Axis by axis
| Axis | ISIS / Daesh | Rawlsian liberalism | Gap | Reading | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EC · Economic organisation | +01 | +01 | 0 | Agrees | Effectively the same position. Not what an argument between them is about. |
| CU · Social and cultural order | +10 | −06 | 16 | Diverges | Carries the disagreement. Any claim that these two are alike has to explain this. |
| AU · Organisation of power | +10 | −06 | 16 | Diverges | Carries the disagreement. Any claim that these two are alike has to explain this. |
| SC · Scale of decision | +09 | +02 | 7 | Differs | Real difference, but not the dividing line. |
| ID · Rule of membership | +10 | −07 | 17 | Diverges | Carries the disagreement. Any claim that these two are alike has to explain this. |
| CH · Method and tempo | +10 | −07 | 17 | Diverges | Carries the disagreement. Any claim that these two are alike has to explain this. |
Each axis runs from −10 to +10; the distance is the straight-line separation across all six at once, out of a maximum of 49.0. How the scoring works →
The evidence behind the widest gaps
A distance figure is worth nothing unless the scores behind it can be checked. These are the artefacts supporting the axes that separate these two most.
ISIS / Daesh · CU +10
At the ceiling: a totalising religious order enforced by public violence.
- Documented act or statuteSlavery was formally reinstituted and regulated by published guidance.
Rawlsian liberalism · CU −06
Coded −6: equal basic liberties as lexically prior to everything else.
- Programme textThe first principle of justice takes priority over the distributive one in Rawls's ordering.
ISIS / Daesh · AU +10
At the ceiling: absolute clerical-military command with no institution outside it.
- Programme textA caliphate was declared in 2014 requiring the allegiance of all Muslims on pain of death.
Rawlsian liberalism · AU −06
Coded −6: entrenched rights and judicial review.
- Programme textThe framework places basic liberties beyond ordinary majority revision.
What this comparison does not establish
Proximity means similarity of stated position. It carries no claim about competence, circumstance, scale of operation, or what either organisation actually did to the people under it. Two organisations can sit close together and produce entirely different histories, because those things are not on any axis and could not be.
Islamic State
2013– · Iraq, Syria
Restoration of a universal caliphate through mass violence, with obligatory allegiance and death for dissent.
Social Liberalism
1971– · Global North
Equal basic liberties first, then fair equality of opportunity, then inequalities only where they benefit the worst off.
Distance is not the whole answer. Two organisations can sit the same distance apart for entirely different reasons, and the reason is the content of any claim about them. Open the comparison in the atlas to weight the axes yourself.
Open in the atlas