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Finding its Way between Realism and Utopia: Global Justice in Theory and Practice

Brock, Gillian. 2009. Global Justice: A Cosmopolitan Account. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 288 pp. Brock, Gillian, and Moellendorf, Darrel (eds.). 2005. Current Debates in Global Justice. Dordrecht: Springer, 305 pp.

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Notes

  1. For some early pioneering discussions, see, for example, Beitz (1979), Singer (1972), Shue (1980).

  2. See the discussions initiated by Rawls (1999).

  3. See for example Miller (2007).

  4. More specific references to most of these essays are given below.

  5. See Beitz (2005), Miller (2005). The former is sympathetic to global principles of equality and the latter expresses scepticism towards global egalitarian principles and defends its incompatibility with the idea of national self-determination.

  6. For an argument that defends Rawls’s account in The Law of Peoples see Risse (2005). For some sceptical remarks on the idea of development assistance (but targeting the arguments of Peter Singer) see Jamieson (2005).

  7. I elaborate further on the relationship between sufficiency and equality with reference to the impact of global positional goods in chapter five of my book Justice and Avant-garde Political Agency. Oxford: Oxford University Press (in preparation). For a normative analysis of their role in domestic debates on egalitarianism see Brighouse and Swift. (2006).

  8. Another way of articulating this point is by insisting on the difference between intrinsic and instrumental egalitarians. Instrumental egalitarians need not be worried by the ‘levelling down’ objection since they clearly maintain that equality is desirable only insofar as it also contributes to improvements in the conditions of life. For an argument defending an instrumental version of egalitarianism as a desirable goal of global justice see Richard Arneson’s essay, Patriotic Ties and Global Justice. In Current Debates in Global Justice, ed. Gillian Brock and Darrel Moellendorf, 127–150. Dordrecht: Springer.

  9. A similar worry about the constraints under which a theory is placed in developing its main assumptions is also articulated by Reddy (2005).

  10. For arguments placing emphasis on the role of international law in promoting global institutional reform see also the essays by Cabrera (2005), Goodin (2005). Interestingly however the latter essay places emphasis on instances in which reform follows breaks on existing laws, rather than being seen as an incremental process peacefully correcting unavoidable previous deficiencies.

  11. For a discussion of the principle of ‘last resort’ and of humanitarian intervention more generally see also the essay by Lango (2005).

  12. For an additional discussion of some global health issues see Sreenivasan (2005).

References

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  1. Nuffield College, Oxford, UK

    Lea Ypi

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Ypi, L. Finding its Way between Realism and Utopia: Global Justice in Theory and Practice. Res Publica 17, 193–202 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11158-010-9137-8

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