Theories of Justice and Injustice

Description

Questions of justice and injustice, of oppression and emancipation, beat at the heart of political debate. What is justice? How is justice best achieved? How should we respond when justice is denied? Does justice require equality? Or does justice permit inequality? What, precisely, is morally wrong – what is unjust – about unequal social relations, like the segregation and incarceration of Black bodies, or the harassment and objectification of women’s bodies, or the domination and exploitation of labouring bodies?    In the first half of the course, we look at the positive side, and examine various theories of justice and emancipation. Topics to be covered might include: liberal theories of egalitarian justice (John Rawls’s “justice as fairness”); distributive theories of egalitarian justice (G. A. Cohen’s “luck egalitarianism”); non-distributive theories of egalitarian justice (Elizabeth Anderson’s “relational egalitarianism”); non-egalitarian theories of distributive justice (Harry Frankfurt on sufficiency, Derek Parfit on priority, Amartya Sen on capability); and non-egalitarian theories of non-distributive justice (Nozick on libertarianism).    In the second half, we examine the negative side, and consider various cases of injustice and oppression. Topics covered might include: radical theories of power (Michel Foucault’s “power/knowledge”); structural theories of injustice (Iris Marion Young on sweatshop labour); racism and residential segregation (Tommie Shelby on the ghetto); patriarchy and sexual objectification (Sandra Bartky on the body); and capitalism and economic exploitation (Nicholas Vrousalis on the wage).