The political responsibility to participate in global civil society
Rawls famously argued that ‘justice is the first virtue of social institutions’; ever since we tend to think of the state institutions as the primary agent of justice. However, I argue that we are all agents of justice, and that our responsibility for justice entails participating in global civil s...
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| Format: | Book section |
| Language: | English French |
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Presses universitaires de Louvain
2016
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| Summary: | Rawls famously argued that ‘justice is the first virtue of social institutions’; ever since we tend to think of the state institutions as the primary agent of justice. However, I argue that we are all agents of justice, and that our responsibility for justice entails participating in global civil society. This is a development of Iris Marion Young’s argument in her final book Responsibility for Justice. To show this I compare Rawls and Young, who both take a structuralist view of justice. I sketch their different understandings of structure, individuals’ responsibilities for justice (dualism), and global justice to show why, on the Youngian approach, individuals have a political responsibility to participate in global civil society to undermine global injustice. |
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