Spheres of Justice: A Defense of Pluralism and Equality
TL;DR: Lawler as mentioned in this paper argued that being for the freeze means that one is not for disarmament, which is hardly a rational position in the sense that it is suspect if not immoral, in the eyes of some.
Abstract: that a plurality of the American Catholic bishops endorse a nuclear freeze (p. 4), saying that they are thus "taking their stance with Moscow,55 which is for a freeze, and not with the Vatican, which "is still in favor of disarmament?not a freeze.55 To make any sense at all, Mr. Lawler must mean that being for the freeze means that one is not for disarmament? hardly a rational position. One recalls here the arguments, during the 19305s and 19405s, that being for racial justice in the United States was suspect if not immoral, in the eyes of some, because the communists also favored it.
Citations
More filters
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examine the responsibilities of states to assist and to receive stateless people who are forced to leave their state territory due to rising seas and other unavoidable climate change impacts and the rights of "climate refugees" to choose their host state.
Abstract: This paper examines the responsibilities of states to assist and to receive stateless people who are forced to leave their state territory due to rising seas and other unavoidable climate change impacts and the rights of ‘climate refugees’ to choose their host state. The paper employs a praxeological method of non-ideal theorising, which entails identifying and negotiating the unavoidable tensions and trade-offs associated with different framings of state responsibility in order to find a path forward that maximises the protection of climate refugees within the constraints imposed by political feasibility. It argues that the responsibility of states to support climate refugees through financial and technical assistance should be treated separately from their responsibility to receive them. The former is a differentiated responsibility grounded in the ability to pay principle, or relative capability, while the latter is a common responsibility grounded in the fact that all states have causally contributed ...
39 citations
Cites background from "Spheres of Justice: A Defense of Pl..."
...For example, Michael Walzer has suggested that contributing to their ‘injury’ creates the relevant affinity and ‘thus Vietnamese refugees had, in a moral sense, been effectively Americanized even before they arrived on these shores’ (Walzer, 1983: 49)....
[...]
01 Jan 2008
TL;DR: The conflict between Israeli Jews and Palestinian Arabs has endured for a century and is characterized by conquest, destruction, and revenge, with all the animosity and sorrow that these actions bring as mentioned in this paper. But it has not been solved yet.
Abstract: Preface The conflict between Israeli Jews and Palestinian Arabs has endured for a century. It centers on control of territory and, as common in such disputes, is characterized by conquest, destruction, and revenge, with all the animosity and sorrow that these actions bring. Because the land in question is terra sancta to three major religions, the conflict evokes powerful passions involving identity, honor, and the propriety of cultural claims. That its disputants employ sophisticated arguments and armaments, that they are willing to combat not only each other but rival voices within their own ranks, and that decades of international diplomacy have failed to produce a satisfactory solution, render it "one of the most difficult political problems of our time, perhaps the most difficult of them all" (Martin Buber). Marked by a series of surprising achievements, deceptions and atrocities in which each side has underestimated the tenacity and resourcefulness of the other, it guarantees fascinating study.
39 citations
TL;DR: For example, if Martians landed on Earth, they might believe that immigration is unrestricted and open to all as discussed by the authors. But the harsh reality is that such a belief is false.
Abstract: With all the talk about the growing ease of human mobility across borders, if Martians landed on Earth, they might believe that immigration is unrestricted and open to all. Alas, the harsh reality ...
39 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors elaborate an alternative, two-level process of community engagement that is explored in one case study example, and build upon this process to more deeply involve people in learning about and negotiating over what constitutes knowledge about how best to practice sustainable community development.
Abstract: Indicator-based projects have become central to community development initiatives. The quantitative basis of such projects means that achieving 'sustainability' can be reduced to a technical task - that of gathering data and ticking boxes. The size, scope, and sheer number of indicators mean that indicator sets are often unwieldy and resist effective implementation. This techno-scientific emphasis can mask possibilities for taking into account the structures of power and cultural-political assumptions that frame the use of indicators. Too often, locally available resources and conditions that might support sustainable practices or challenge the existing unsustainable practices are subsumed by 'hard facts'. The necessity of citizen participation and active involvement do not necessarily figure in projects driven by quantitatively determined indicators. We elaborate an alternative, two-level process of community engagement that is explored in one case study example. At the first level, it involves community members as active participants. At the second level, it builds upon this process to more deeply involve people in learning about and negotiating over what constitutes knowledge about how best to practice sustainable community development.
38 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors show how new boundaries do not replace the old ones but rather they tend to co-exist and this coexistence is sometimes harmonious but often tension-prone.
Abstract: The rise and fall, construction and deconstruction of different types of boundaries - biological, psychological, geographical, cultural, social, political, economic - make up the very story of human civilisation and of contemporary social transformation. Drawing from a wide variety of contexts, this paper shows how new boundaries do not replace the old ones but rather they tend to co-exist. This co-existence is sometimes harmonious but often tension-prone. Life in a society without boundaries will be nasty, brutish and short. On the other hand, societies with a proclivity to maintain boundaries that ignore the pulse of the times will be condemned to stagnation and decay. Thus, boundaries are constantly contested and hence the real challenge is to abolish obsolete boundaries and build desirable new ones which is the essence of pluralism.
38 citations