Open AccessInjustice and Collectivization in World Politics
Author(s) -
Elizabeth Kahn
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
global justice
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 1835-6842
DOI - 10.21248/gjn.11.02.217
Subject(s) - injustice , blame , collective responsibility , politics , economic justice , reproduction , agency (philosophy) , action (physics) , environmental ethics , collective action , sociology , law and economics , political science , law , social science , social psychology , psychology , philosophy , ecology , physics , quantum mechanics , biology
In Justice and Reconciliation in World Politics Catherine Lu endorses the idea that those who contribute to the reproduction of structural injustice have responsibilities to address that injustice (Lu, 2017). However, in the book, Lu does not explore the grounds and justification for recognising such a responsibility. In order to address this deficit, this paper proposes that those likely to contribute to the reproduction of structural injustice, in the future, have precautionary duties, in the present, that require them to take action aimed at preventing their future contribution. It is proposed that these ‘collectivization duties’ (Collins, 2013) require them to act responsively with a view to forming a collective that can end the structural injustice in question. This account recommends a collective-action solution alongside recognising that each socially connected agent is obliged to act. However, it does not entail that amorphous groups bear responsibilities and is appropriate in its attribution of blame, thus avoiding both Nussbaum’s (2011) critique of perpetually forward-looking accounts and the ‘agency objection’ (Wringe, 2010).