The Foundations of Distributive Justice: A Morphogenetic Analysis of Gomberg and Fraser

Andrew Morrison

doi:10.1177/0038038520947305

Abstract

This article applies Margaret Archer’s morphogenetic analytical dualism framework to critically compare the sociological foundations underpinning the work of two key American political philosophers: Paul Gomberg and Nancy Fraser. First, I focus upon Gomberg’s ideas for reforms to the division of labour and their impact upon race relations in the USA. I argue that, while Gomberg offers a radical egalitarian vision, it is flawed by its weak understanding of the relationships between structure and agency and between culture and economy. Following this, I consider Fraser’s theory of two-dimensional participatory justice premised upon distributive and recognition justice. I argue that, due to a more sociologically nuanced approach, her theory avoids the conflationism and epiphenomenalism that Gomberg lapses into. I conclude by noting that these conceptual issues have pertinence beyond these two authors and have implications for theories of distributive justice more generally.

Highlights

How we understand the relationship between the key sociological categories of agency and structure, and of culture and economy, matters centrally to what political philosophy terms distributive justice; that is, to questions regarding how we should organise our economic and social institutions in order to distribute fairly the benefits and responsibilities of social co-operation (Olsaretti, 2018: 1)
I shall discuss the work of two important American political philosophers who have addressed themselves to these conceptual and political questions: Paul Gomberg and Nancy Fraser
A key tenet of Archer’s (1995) approach is the concept of analytical dualism: an understanding that structure and agency are analytically separable entities distinguished through their distinct properties and temporalities

Summary

Introduction

How we understand the relationship between the key sociological categories of agency and structure, and of culture and economy, matters centrally to what political philosophy terms distributive justice; that is, to questions regarding how we should organise our economic and social institutions in order to distribute fairly the benefits and responsibilities of social co-operation (Olsaretti, 2018: 1). Within this article I shall apply Margaret Archer’s (1995) morphogenetic analytical dualism framework to argue that, despite the ambition of Gomberg’s philosophical vision, it rests upon a sociologically dubious understanding of agency and structure, and of economy and culture These shortcomings, in turn, raise questions about its potential to improve race relations. For Gomberg (2007) the (at least potentially) unlimited opportunity to access high-skill work produced by these reforms is more radically egalitarian than liberal attempts to provide equal opportunities to obtain a limited number of good jobs within a competitive field This emphasis upon equality of outcome leads on to the third element of Gomberg’s theory: the claims he makes about how these reforms will address structural racism, and that of the black–white binary divide, in the United States.

Structure and Agency

Disciplinary Boundaries?

Economy and Culture

The Sociology of Distributive Justice