Showing papers on "Economic Justice published in 1982"

Liberalism and the Limits of Justice

Abstract: A liberal society seeks not to impose a single way of life, but to leave its citizens as free as possible to choose their own values and ends. It therefore must govern by principles of justice that do not presuppose any particular vision of the good life. But can any such principles be found? And if not, what are the consequences for justice as a moral and political ideal? These are the questions Michael Sandel takes up in this penetrating critique of contemporary liberalism. Sandel locates modern liberalism in the tradition of Kant, and focuses on its most influential recent expression in the work of John Rawls. In the most important challenge yet to Rawls' theory of justice, Sandel traces the limits of liberalism to the conception of the person that underlies it, and argues for a deeper understanding of community than liberalism allows.

Choice, Welfare and Measurement

Abstract: In the course of his distinguished career, Amartya K. Sen has scrutinized the foundations of economic theory and analysis. He has brought into sharper focus such concepts as choice, preference, rationality, aggregation, evaluation, and measurement, and applied these concepts to the economic issues underlying universal social concerns, among them inequality, unemployment, poverty, human welfare, liberty, rights, justice. The twenty essays in this book encompass both these aspects of Sen's economic endeavors.Kenneth Arrow has written that "Sen's mastery in the fields of social choice, the foundations of welfare economics, and, more broadly, distributive ethics and the measurement problems associated with these fields is unquestioned. The selection of articles fully reflects his work in this area ... a number of the papers are already classics."The author has provided a substantial introduction to the book that interrelates his diverse concerns and analyzes the wide-ranging discussions that were generated by the original papers, while stressing the central concepts and underlying issues.His writings are distributed among five topical sections: Choice and Preference, Preference Aggregation, Welfare Comparisons and Social Choice, Non-utility Information, and Social Measurement. The contributions have been collected from many journals in the fields of economics and public affairs and from books that were published between 1966 and 1980.Amartya K. Sen is Drummond Professor of Political Economy at Oxford, and Fellow of All Souls College.

Law, legislation, and liberty: A new statement of the liberal principles of justice and political economy

Abstract: Foreword to the Routledge Classics Edition Consolidated Preface Introduction Volume I Rules and Order 1.Reason and Evolution 2. Cosmos and Taxis 3. Principles and Expediency 4. The Changing Concept of Law 5. Nomos: The Law of Liberty 6. Thesis: The Law of Legislation Notes Volume 2 The Mirage of Social Justice 7. General Welfare and Particular Purposes 8. The Quest for Justice 9. 'Social' or Distributive Justice 10. The Market Order or Catallaxy 11. The Discipline of Abstract Rules and the Emotions of the Tribal Society Notes Volume 3 The Political Order of a Free People 12. Majority Opinion and Contemporary Democracy 13. The Division of Democratic Powers 14. The Public Sector and the Private Sector 15. Government Policy and the Market 16. The Miscarriage of the Democratic Ideal: A Recapitualation 17. A Model Constitution 18. The Containment of Power and the Dethronement of Politics Epilogue: The Three Sources of Human Values Notes Index of Authors cited in Volumes 1-3 Subject index to Volumes 1-3

The Pursuit of Power: Technology, Armed Force and Society Since A.D. 1000

Abstract: In this magnificent synthesis of military, technological, and social history, William H. McNeill explores a whole millennium of human upheaval and traces the path by which we have arrived at the frightening dilemmas that now confront us. McNeill moves with equal mastery from the crossbow banned by the Church in 1139 as too lethal for Christians to use against one another to the nuclear missile, from the sociological consequences of drill in the seventeenth century to the emergence of the military-industrial complex in the twentieth. His central argument is that a commercial transformation of world society in the eleventh century caused military activity to respond increasingly to market forces as well as to the commands of rulers. Only in our own time, suggests McNeill, are command economies replacing the market control of large-scale human effort. The Pursuit of Power does not solve the problems of the present, but its discoveries, hypotheses, and sheer breadth of learning do offer a perspective on our current fears and, as McNeill hopes, "a ground for wiser action." "No summary can do justice to McNeill's intricate, encyclopedic treatment. . . . McNeill's erudition is stunning, as he moves easily from European to Chinese and Islamic cultures and from military and technological to socio-economic and political developments. The result is a grand synthesis of sweeping proportions and interdisciplinary character that tells us almost as much about the history of butter as the history of guns. . . . McNeill's larger accomplishment is to remind us that all humankind has a shared past and, particularly with regard to its choice of weapons and warfare, a shared stake in the future." Stuart Rochester, "Washington Post Book World " "Mr. McNeill's comprehensiveness and sensitivity do for the reader what Henry James said that Turgenev's conversation did for him: they suggest 'all sorts of valuable things.' This narrative of rationality applied to irrational purposes and of ingenuity cannibalizing itself is a work of clarity, which delineates mysteries. The greatest of them, to my mind, is why human beings have never learned to cherish their own species." Naomi Bliven, "The New Yorker ""

New maps of development: new visions of maturity

Abstract: Two modes of moral reasoning are distinguished in boys' and girls' discussions of moral dilemmas: one oriented to justice and rights, one to care and response. These different modes are associated with different forms of self-definition and reflect different images of relationships. The contrasting images of hierarchy and web derive from childhood experiences of inequality and interdependence which give rise to the ideals of justice and of care. The representation of these two lines of development and their interplay yields a new mapping of human growth.

Social Justice in the Liberal State

Abstract: Certain to become the most important work in political theory since John Rawls's A Theory of Justice, this book presents a brilliantly original, compelling vision of a just society-a world in which each of us may live his own life in his own way without denying the same right to others. Full of provocative discussions of issues ranging from education to abortion, it makes fascinating reading for anyone concerned with the future of the liberal democratic state.

The Justice Concept in Social Psychology

Abstract: Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the major theoretical conceptions of justice in social psychology. It discusses the early work in social psychology, specifically the statements by George Homans, Blau, and J. Stacy Adams, which shaped much of the work that followed. It also discusses the theoretical statements derived from the research activity of the 1960s and the 1970s. The chapter presents a set of issues that are considered to be most important in underlying past work and in establishing the outlines of an agenda for the future. Philosophers writing on justice have addressed two different kinds of issues. The first involves the definition of the concept of justice and what it could be argued to entail. The second issue involves attempts to establish material principles of justice, specifications of the conditions that must be met if justice is to exist. The chapter discusses several classical and contemporary philosophical statements on justice.

Intergenerational Justice as Opportunity

Abstract: This paper contrasts two views of intergenerational justice. The first view is a global one, which focuses on the aggregate well-being of each generation and discounts future generations' utilities. In this view discounting is not a notion of intergenerational justice; instead it is defended as a necessary condition of intergenerational efficiency. And intergenerational efficiency is not advanced as a notion of intergenerational justice but as a strongly desirable condition of any intergenerational just system. The appeal of the discounting approach is explained by a set of conditions which define neoclassical utilitarianism. Within the defining conditions, discounting future utilities is “natural," but not necessary for efficiency. The framework of intergenerational social choice also fits the defining conditions of neoclassical utilitarianism, and it is easy to construct choice rules which do not discount future utilities and yet which are intergenerationally efficient. Although there is room within neoclassical utilitarianism for efficient rules of choice which do not discount future utilities, the second view of intergenerational justice does not appear to fit naturally within the utilitarian system. The second view of intergenerational justice is specialized, and focuses on the preservation of "essential” opportunities. The second view becomes more appealing when the defining conditions of neoclassical utilitarianism are modified. In modifying the conditions, the notion of intergenerational efficiency becomes weaker, partly because as an ordering principle it becomes less complete and partly because potential Pareto improvements are no longer discretionary from the vantage point of the future. How much, if any, efficiency loss there might be from application of the specialized notion of intergenerational justice depends on the extent of modification of the defining conditions and the structure of institutions spanning generational time. The modified conditions appear to accord more closely with commonsense notions of intertemporal justice than do the original conditions. And thus the opportunity concept of intergenerational justice appears to be closer to our commonsense notions of intragenerational justice than does the global (discounting) concept.

Criminal justice and the nineteenth-century paradigm: The triumph of psychological individualism in the "formative era."

Abstract: This article examines the influence of psychological individualism on nineteenth-century law and criminal justice policy. The nineteenth century—a formative period both for American law and for human sciences—was dominated by a single overarching conception of human behavior. This article explores the implications and consequences of that domination by first examining the general conditions under which individualism flourished in the United States, and then focusing on specific criminal justice policies that were pemised on this individualistic paradigm. It suggests that individualistic assumptions about human behavior were incorporated into what became intractable legal and institutional forms. The article also develops the relationship between law and human science during this period, and the way in which criminal justice policies were advanced as scientific doctrines. Finally, it concludes with a brief discussion of the role played by psychology in criminal justice policy since the nineteenth—century, and the recent resurgence of psychological individualism.

The Social Organization of Mediation in Nonindustrial Societies: Implications for Informal Community Justice in America

Abstract: Publisher Summary This chapter focuses on the social organization of mediation in non-industrial societies: implications for informal community justice in America. American courts are notorious for their failure to resolve minor, interpersonal disputes quickly, effectively, and in a way that satisfies the disputing parties. The increasing urbanism, transiency, and heterogenity of the American society in the twentieth century has undermined informal dispute settlement mechanisms that are rooted in home, church, and community and increased the demand for other means of dealing with family, neighbor, and community disputes. However, many legal experts argue that the formality of the courts, their adherence to an adversary model, their strict rules of procedure and their reliance on adjudication render them inappropriate for handling many kinds of interpersonal quarrels arising in ongoing social relationships. The alternative is to create institutions that appear to grant communities the control over behavior, yet in reality simply provide a forum for handling disputes outside the protections of due process. An uncritical adoption of mediation could undermine social justice in other ways as well. Mediation could become a new mode of social control by local elites over deviant behavior (Hofrichter, 1982). As Silbey (1979) and Hofrichter (1977) argue, mediation might become a means for containing and deflecting grievances that spring from tensions in the society itself, therefore, meeting individual demands without affecting the underlying normative order of society. The public demand for condemnation and punishment of deviant behavior may also be deflected. Mediation experiments offer the promise of more humane and just ways of resolving interpersonal disputes. However, the question remains as to whether this what they provide?

Habermas on Truth and Justice

Abstract: The problem which motivates this paper bears on the relationship between Marxism and morality. It is not the well-established question of whether the Marxist's commitments undermine an attachment to ethical standards, but the more neglected query as to whether they allow the espousal of political ideals. The study and assessment of political ideals is pursued nowadays under the title of theory of justice, the aim of such theory being to provide a criterion for distinguishing just patterns of social organization from unjust ones. The main rivals in the field represent justice respectively as legitimacy, welfare and fairness. Marxism does not put forward a distinctive conception of justice itself and the question is whether the Marxist is free to choose as he thinks fit among the candidates on offer

Law and Revolution in Portugal: The Experiences of Popular Justice after the 25th of April 1974

Abstract: Publisher Summary This chapter discusses law and revolution in Portugal. It focuses on the experiences of popular justice after the 25th of April 1974. It analyzes the phenomenon of popular justice as it occurred in Portugal during the recent revolutionary crisis. It is legitimate to speak of a popular movement despite the small number of cases and the active participation of formal political organizations. The concept of popular justice has been used in the most diverse social and political contexts. It has denominated all or a part of the administration of justice in precapitalist societies, as in the Portuguese ancien regime in which three types of justice coexisted: royal justice, seigneurial justice, and popular justice. The concept of popular justice has been used to characterize the initiatives taken by the masses in revolutionary or pre-revolutionary crises in response to, and usually in conflict with, the official administration of justice, as in the French Revolution, the Paris Commune, the Russian Revolution, Chile in 1970-1973, and Portugal in 1974-1975. This chapter further discusses the concept of popular justice to the last of these situations. Historical analysis of the most important revolutionary crises in modern times leads us to a concept of popular justice in which the following elements tend to be present. It is class justice, that is, it appears as justice exercised by the popular classes parallel to or in confrontation with the state administration of justice. It embodies an alternative criteria of substantive legality or at least alternative criteria for the interpretation and enforcement of pre-existing legality.

Justice and the Oresteia

Abstract: The essay is concerned with justice in the Oresteia and the way the Oresteia contributes to the justice it celebrates. It begins by examining the place of tragedy in Athenian politics as a preface to an analysis of the trilogy's understanding of justice. That understanding is explored using two examples of fundamentally conflicting forces which are reconciled in the play to create a whole larger and more just than either force alone. The essay goes on to argue that the form of tragedy recapitulates and reinforces the substantive teachings on justice previously analyzed. Here four elements are considered: the balances between intelligence and passion, action and boundaries, political discourse and poetry, and the Euminides and Agamemnon.

Justice and the awareness of social entities

Abstract: Justice is, for the most part, what we think it is. Although thinking may seem to take a back seat to emotion in the turmoil of reactions to injustice, or to simple habit in the everyday enactment of just behavior, it is nevertheless true that features of our social environment can be partitioned as “just” or “unjust” only because we can think about them. With this idea as the guiding assumption, this chapter introduces a distinction between two principal ways in which the social world impinges on the person's thoughts. First, just as the person might look at a distant light, the person may befocally aware of a social entity such as a person or a group. Second, just as the person might look through a telescope at the light, the person may be tacitly aware of social entities. This distinction makes it possible to characterize the person's social awareness both in terms of what is focal (what social object is being thought about) and in terms of what is tacit (what social perspective is being used). The chapter offers an analysis of the consequences for justice that are observed when people think about others, themselves, and groups in these different ways.

Strategic Choice and Opinion Assignment On the U. S. Supreme Court: a Reexamination

Abstract: UPREME COURT scholars are interested in opinion assignment on the Court because the justice who writes the Court's opinion has substantial control over its content. Four different researchers (Danelski, 1960; Ulmer, 1970; McLauchlan, 1972; and Rohde, 1972) examined four different data sets and found that some opinion assigners, in some kinds of cases overassigned the opinion to some categories of justices close to the dissenters (see Table 1). The most ambitious of the opinion assignment studies was the one conducted by Rohde. Rohde inspected the five-member decision coalitions in the orally argued civil liberties cases on the Warren Court and found that the marginal and pivotal justice was chosen to write a significantly greater share of the opinions of the Court than can be expected by chance. The marginal justice in a five-person decision coalition is the justice in the coalition who is ideologically closest to the minority, while a pivotal justice is the justice furthest away ideologically from the opinion assigner. Why is the pivotal and marginal justice favored in opinion assignment? We learn from Rohde that in civil liberties cases the opinion assigner seeks an opinion that conforms to his own ideological views and to achieve this end he usually assigns the opinion to himself or to a justice ideologically close to him. Therefore, when the opinion assigner designates the marginal and pivotal justice to author the Court's opinion he is depriving himself of a benefit. What might the opinion assigner get in return for giving up this

A Socialist Legal System in the Making: Mozambique before and after Independence

Abstract: Publisher Summary On June 25, 1975, Mozambique gained its independence after ten years of armed struggle against Portuguese colonialism. The new government, led by FRELIMO (the Mozambican Liberation Front), was committed to dismantling the colonialist-capitalist system and starting the country on the long process of socialist transformation. The government recognized the need to construct a new legal system that would reflect and reinforce the aspirations of the popular classes, workers and peasants, although it assigned this task a lower priority than the economic transformation. It drew heavily on the experiences in the liberated zones, those areas governed by FRELIMO during the armed struggle, as it did in all the other sectors to be transformed. In these liberated regions the legal process had been democratized and, through trial and error, an embryonic system of popular justice had evolved. A central principle is a commitment to involving the entire community in all aspects of the legal process in order to protect and promote the interests of workers and peasants and ensure their active participation in the process of creating a socialist state. In short, popular justice is a critical component of class struggle in Mozambique. The chapter examines the development of popular justice and the tensions inherent in institutionalizing and formalizing it on a national scale. Both in the liberated zones and during the post-independence period this process has been characterized by a dialectic between experimentation and formalization, practice and theory, that ensures both popular input and adherence to revolutionary principles.

A primer on American labor law

Abstract: Since its publication more than a decade ago, "A Primer on American Labor Law "has served as an easily accessible guide to the development, principles, and characteristics of American labor law.The third edition incorporates a number of significant developments that have taken place since 1986. These include new precedent under the Railway Labor Act (covering both railroads and airlines), the expansion of wrongful discharge litigation (which has become increasingly important as the unorganized sector of the work force continues to expand), new forms of protection against discrimination afforded by the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and the Civil Rights Act of 1991, the consent decree between the U.S. Department of justice and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, and the continued success of unions representing professional athletes.William B. Gould IV is Charles A. Beardsley Professor of Law at Stanford Law School. An impartial arbitrator of labor disputes since 1965, he is a member of the Clinton Administration's Committee on the Future of Worker-Management Relations. He is the author of "Agenda for Reform: The Future of Employment Relationships and the Law."