Open AccessShame, Justice, and Decolonization: A Reply to Catherine Lu
Author(s) -
Michael Blake
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
global justice
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 1835-6842
DOI - 10.21248/gjn.11.02.212
Subject(s) - shame , equity (law) , duty , conversation , economic justice , social justice , decolonization , sociology , psychology , social psychology , psychoanalysis , environmental ethics , criminology , political science , law , philosophy , communication , politics
This paper discusses two possible difficulties with Catherine Lu’s powerful analysis of the moral response to our shared history of colonial evil; both of thesedifficulties stem from the rightful place of shame in that moral response. The first difficulty focuses on efficacy: existing states may be better motivated by shame atthe past than by a shared duty to bring about a just future. The second focuses on equity: it is, at the very least, possible that shame over past misdeeds ought to bebrought into the conversation about present duties, in a manner more robust than Lu’s analysis allows.