International Economic Justice Research Articles

Justice Between Sites of Justice

Michael Blake argues that states are the primary sites of justice for persons and that the function of international justice is to ensure that states interact with each other in ways that preserve the capacity of each to realize justice for their own members. This paper will argue that justice among states requires more of states than that they preserve and maintain each other's capacity as primary sites of justice. Justice among states will require some justification, as well, of the claims of states over resources and territory within their borders. Such a justification, I suggest, must presume a global institutional order, and this will introduce the problem of coercion in the international domain. International coercion will have implications for Blake's understanding of international economic justice since it is premised on the claim that the domestic context is coercive in a way that the international arena is not.

Rawls on International Economic Justice in The Law of Peoples

Rawls on International Economic Justice in The Law of Peoples

A Phenomenological Appropriation of Ricoeur’s Critique of Rawlsian Contractualism and Kantian Deontology for the Purposes of Building a New Theory of International Economic Justice

Journal of Anthropology and Archaeology is a peer-reviewed international journal, which publishes original papers promoting theoretical, methodological and empirical developments in the discipline of socio-cultural anthropology.

Review: Ethics & International Affairs

ETHICS & INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS A Reader, third edition Joel H. Rosenthal and Christian Barry, editors Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, 2009. 352pp, US$34.95 paper ISBN 978-1-58901-272-1This is third edition ofthe popular Ethics & International Affairs readers. Ten years have passed since second edition, and as scholar Chris Brown states on back ofthe latest edition, editors have extensively revised collection. Like its forerunners, it collects recent articles from journal Ethics & International Affairs, some of which are updated and slightly revised, and organizes them into four parts. Part I, on conflict resolution, includes contributions on realism (David Hendrickson), preventive war (Neta Crawford), and accountability and reckoning with past wrongs (David A. Crocker). Part II covers grounds for intervention, including essays that provide an overview of topic (Michael Smith), moral basis for intervention (Terry Nardin), responsibility to protect in relation to Iraq and Darfur (Alex Bellamy), and a chapter on ecological intervention (Robyn Eckersley). Part III, on governance, law, and membership collects essays on global governance institutions (Allen Buchanan and Robert Keohane), democracy and international law (Seyla Benhabib), global justice for women (Alison M. Jaggar), and ethics of immigration laws (Joseph H. Carens). Part IV, on global economic justice, includes chapters on models of international economic justice (Ethan B. Kapstein), American empire (Robert Wade), accountability in development aid (Leif Wenar), and three chapters of an exchange between Thomas Pogge and Mathias Risse on world poverty and human rights.In their preface, Rosenthal and Barry, who also edit journal, note that their selections are neither 'hits' of international ethics, nor greatest 'misses' of global public policy, nor do they necessarily address the most pressing issues. Rather, selections are intended to be conversations... taken as invitations to normative, empirical discussions, and to ultimately balance between supply [ing] a volume fit for ethics classroom, and to reflect growing maturity ofthe of international ethics (x).If these are standards by which scholars, practitioners, and even general readers should measure this third edition, there is much to commend it. For starters, this is a fantastic, easily accessible and well-written series of contributions. Despite editors' modest prefatory remarks, these are selections from some ofthe most serious, vibrant, and esteemed scholars in today's field of international ethics. The essays, then, in addition to being straightforward, are still intellectually provocative and cover a wide range of topics. This makes this volume perfectly suited to courses on international ethics, of course, but with impressive coverage it could be used as a supplementary text in global development, international law, human rights, and international organizations courses. …

The WTO and the limits of distributive justice

In this article I rethink Rawls' conception of international economic justice, with a particular focus on international trade. I ground my normative argument on a different interpretation of the concepts of basic structure and of basic institution. I use the contemporary international trading system to illustrate my normative interpretation. I use the Law of Peoples to discuss the Rawlsian concept of basic structure. I contest Samuel Freeman's interpretation of this concept as one that pertains exclusively to the domestic realm. As a reply, I work out an interpretation of basic institutions valid for both the national and international context. I base my understanding on the impact and the form of membership that characterize basic institutions. Both properties are compatible with an extension of the concept of a basic institution to the international domain. I then show how the World Trade Organization (WTO) system can be compared to a domestic basic institution. I analyse the decisional setting that surrounds the choice of joining the WTO. I conclude that no real alternative exists. Hence, WTO membership is not to be considered a completely free policy choice. I also state that the new system is witnessing a strong expansion of the areas subject to trade governance. Such expansion is responsible for the growing impact that international trade has on domestic institutions and hence on people. Finally, I use my analysis of contemporary international trading relations to test Rawls' position in the Law of Peoples. I conclude that although Rawls' principles for fair trade and international cooperation can regulate GATT-style international trade, they are not proficient in assessing the new characteristics of international trade.

A Just Global Economy: In Defense of Rawls

In The Law of Peoples, John Rawls does not discuss justice and the global economy at great length or in great detail. What he does say has not been well-received. The prevailing view seems to be that what Rawls says in The Law of Peoples regarding global economic justice is both inconsistent with and a betrayal of his own liberal egalitarian commitments, an unexpected and unacceptable defense of the status quo. This view is, I think, mistaken. Rawls’s position on global or international economic justice is richer, more nuanced, and generally more compelling than his critics have been willing to acknowledge. My aim in this essay is to sympathetically set out, and then defend against two common families of objection to, Rawls’s position on global or international economic justice. Objections of the first sort reject Rawls’s position as inadequately attentive to the material and economic interests of individual persons worldwide. Objections of the second sort reject it as inadequately attentive to the material and economic interests of well-ordered peoples. Throughout the paper I develop several arguments implicit in The Law of Peoples but not well-developed there as well as offer some additional arguments of my own consistent with the spirit of The Law of Peoples and Rawls’s work more generally. I conclude with some brief remarks expressing two worries I have about Rawls’s position – one concerning global public goods, the other concerning the formation of a morally adequate and effective political will within the international context under contemporary conditions.

Models of International Economic Justice

Articulating and examining the likely consequences of different theoretical and policy approaches to economic justice serves to highlight potential trade-offs and conflicts among them, and helps us to think more carefully about these trade-offs and what their consequences might be. Some of us, for example, might support a liberal free trade regime because we believe it promotes greater income equalityamong countries. But we might also reasonably assert that such a regime exacerbates economic injusticeswithin some countriesby causing dislocation and unemployment, particularly among vulnerable socioeconomic groups such as unskilled workers. This essay presents three models that seek to capture some of the central normative concerns that have been expressed by critics of economic globalization-communitarian, liberal internationalist, and cosmopolitan prioritarian. I indicate the kinds of economic models and data sets that are relevant to determining whether and to what extent greater openness to global trade poses a threat to economic justice as conceived by each of these approaches. Specifically, I use these analytical tools in order to relate changes in openness to foreign trade to other social and economic outcomes, particularly changes in income inequality and poverty, which have tended to draw the attention of nearly all theorists of economic justice. I characterize and critique the approach to economic justice that has been (implicitly) adopted by the major international institutions like the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, and World Trade Organization. I conclude with some policy implications and suggestions for further research in the area of international economic justice.

Models of International Economic Justice

Free trade is efficient, but is it just? Many scholars, activists, and non-governmental organizations argue that it is not. But what do we mean when we say that the international economy is unjust? The purpose of this article is to address that question by matching existing theories of international economic justice with models and data, in an effort to bring clarity and rigor to contemporary debates.

Ethics and international affairs: extent and limits

Ethics and International Affairs explores the extent and limits of contemporary international ethics and examines the ways in which the international community has responded to some of the most crucial challenges since the end of the Cold War. At the centre of this book is a discussion of how responsibility is viewed at individual, national, and international levels when facing the problems of human rights, humanitarian intervention, environmental issues, considerations of gender, international economic justice, matters of war and peace, and the plight of refugees. This publication is an examination of how ethics are defined in today's specific contexts and how an understanding of the ethical may be developed from the articulation of the dilemmas encountered. The issues tackled in the book were already topical over ten years ago, at the time of the first edition. In 2013, the year of publication for this second edition, following the tumultuous decade of the early 2000s, they have only gained in importance.

International economic justice and national responsibility: Strategies for economic development in the post Cold War world

Abstract The end of the Cold War has eroded confidence in the socialist paradigm and in the role of government intervention in the economy. Reviewing successive theoretical approaches to the study of governments and markets is therefore vitally necessary. The paper notes that Adam Smith's pro‐market approach was countered by the Lange‐Taylor‐Lemer conjecture that public ownership could be equally effective, but that subsequently the efficiency of government came under attack from a number of perspectives. These included poor incentives, the ability of the private sector to offset government action and the appearance of rent‐seeking activities. More recently, views about the efficiency of markets have again been challenged, especially because of the imperfect information problem, while support of government activity has resulted from the success of some public interventions in the East Asian “miracle” countries. The paper concludes that national governments in developing countries have two essential roles:...

22: Morality Peace, and Nuclear War

In the following pages Cardinal Bernardin expresses his views on fundamental issues such as morality, peace, and nuclear war. Peace was God's eternal promise to mankind; nevertheless, we continue to face a world where the poor suffer injustice and oppression in a world of chaos. Anyway God continues to recreate, to reconcile, and to bring wholeness and peace to humankind through His Son's death and resurrection. Peace does not materialize, however, without human efforts; the desire for peace can be found in the hearts of all people. It is a gift that both challenges and inspires us to transform our world for the better. However, peace cannot exist where innocent are oppressed, human dignity is ignored, and life, from conception to natural death, is not viewed as sacred.If peace is our goal, we must develop a keen sense of compassion and generosity toward the poor and those who live on the margin of society. Another constant threat to peace is nuclear war. Today the linkage between politics and war has been broken, and nuclear war threatens to destroy the very political values which once justified a resort to force. Present‐day nuclear weapons can destroy the whole planet, and as a consequence, our ongoing goal must be the elimination of nuclear weapons.We live in a time of anxiety and fear and also one of hope. With regards to this, Cardinal Bernardin underlines the Church's “Pastoral Letter on War and Peace” in which concern is expressed about the direction of the arms race, the role of human rights in the United States, foreign policy, the United States' posture on issues of international economic justice, and U.S. policies in Latin America and in the Middle East. The letter devotes over 30 pages to the challenge of constructing peace in an increasingly interdependent world and emphasizes both the threat and new moral dilemmas introduced with nuclear weapons and nuclear strategy.

Ethical Issues of Population Aid: Culture, Economics, and International Assistance

This is a collection of papers by different authors on the ethical aspects of population policies and program assistance. The papers concern the relationship between the perceived facts of a countrys population policy and the values threatened or enhanced by such a policy. Topics covered include cultural values related to population change; food population and international economic justice; ecological aspects; population in Western economic theory; the relationship between population growth and economic growth; the role of population growth in third world theories of underdevelopment; development alternatives; political aspects of population issues; moral issues concerning selective and conditional population assistance; population policy human rights and national sovereignty; and ethics and effectiveness in population programs.

International Economic Justice and the Guaranteed Minimum

Inequality is still with us. For all of the talk (and worry) about the appeal of egalitarianism in modern politics, the benefits which derive from living together in organized society continue to be distributed in highly unequal ways. The reports of the death of privilege are greatly exaggerated. Some people live in opulence while others live in squalor. From birth some have secure life prospects while others survive, much less flourish, against enormous odds. Some people live comfortably well into old age, while others suffer and die from curable diseases in childhood or youth. In certain respects and in certain societies there no doubt has been some progress toward more equality, but in numerous other respects inequality persists. Indeed, it has grown.