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Transnational Solidarity and the Mediation of Conflicts of Justice in Europe
Author(s) -
Witte Floris
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
european law journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.351
H-Index - 54
eISSN - 1468-0386
pISSN - 1351-5993
DOI - 10.1111/j.1468-0386.2012.00624.x
Subject(s) - solidarity , economic justice , articulation (sociology) , politics , political science , european union , distributive justice , mediation , law and economics , political economy , welfare state , state (computer science) , sociology , law , economics , algorithm , computer science , economic policy
This contribution analyses the conflicts of justice that are becoming increasingly visible in Europe. It argues that while European Union (EU) law can be understood as an instrument for the incorporation of the demands of justice and the articulation of ‘the good’ beyond the nation state, it also potentially skews the distributive criteria and assumptions of justice that underlie the national welfare state. In light of the absence of a transnational political system that can bound such conflicts of justice, this article suggests that the capacity of the EU to contribute to, rather than detract from, the attainment of justice depends on the careful articulation and institutionalisation of the different types of transnational solidarity that exist in Europe.