1. GLOBALISATION AND THEORIES OF JUSTICE PROF. BENEDETTA GIOVANOLA UNIVERSITY OF MACERATA DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE, COMMUNICATION AND INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS A.A. 2014-15 B. Giovanola, Globalisation and Theories of Justice, a.a. 2014-15

2. Amartya Sen The Idea of Justice (2009) Introduction and Chapters 2, 15, 16, 17, 18 B. Giovanola, Globalisation and Theories of Justice, a.a. 2014-15

3. Sen’s idea of justice: Introduction  Two basic lines of reasoning about justice: 1. Transcendental institutionalism (related to contractarian mode of thinking): focus on perfect justice (rather than on relative comparisons of justice and injustice) focus on institutions (rather than on actual societies that would ultimately emerge) 2. Realization-focused comparison: comparative approach focus on social realizations B. Giovanola, Economic Ethics, UIBE - IUP, June 2014

4. Sen’s idea of justice: Introduction  Problems of transcendental institutionalism: A. Feasibility: there may be no reasoned agreement at all, even under strict conditions of impartiality and open- minded scrutiny, on the nature of the just society B. Redundancy: even if an agreed transcendental solution is found, it could identify an alternative which is not feasible C. It focuses on organisational arrangements (arrangement- focused view), rather than on actual realizations and accomplishments (realization-focused view) D. It does not take into account the lives that people can actually live and their freedom to choose between different kind of lives E. It neglects the issue of global justice B. Giovanola, Economic Ethics, UIBE - IUP, June 2014

5. Sen’s idea of justice: Introduction  Distinction between: 1. Niti: relates to organizational propriety as well as behavioural correctness 2. Nyaya: is concerned with what emerges and how, and in particular the lives that people are actually able to lead B. Giovanola, Economic Ethics, UIBE - IUP, June 2014

6. Sen’s idea of justice: Chapter 2: “Rawls and Beyond”  Positive lessons from the Rawlsian approach: 1. Foundational priority of fairness in developing a theory of justice 2. Importance of objectivity in practical reason 3. Importance of moral powers that people have, related to their capacity for a sense of justice and for a conception of the good 4. Prioratization of liberty B. Giovanola, Economic Ethics, UIBE - IUP, June 2014

7. Sen’s idea of justice: Chapter 2: “Rawls and Beyond” 5. Importance of procedural fairness and enrichment of the literature on inequality 6. Importance of equity in social arrangements so that attention is drawn particularly to the predicament of the worst-off people 7. Indirect acknolwdgement of the importance of human freedom in giving people real opportunities B. Giovanola, Economic Ethics, UIBE - IUP, June 2014

8. Sen’s idea of justice: Chapter 2: “Rawls and Beyond”  Problems in the Rawlsian approach: 1. The total priority of liberty is too extreme 2. The focus on means (primary goods) does not allow to take into account the wide variations people have in being able to convert primary goods into good living 3. Attention is bestowed almost exclusively on just institutions rather than focusing on just societies that may rely on both effective institutions and on behavioural features B. Giovanola, Economic Ethics, UIBE - IUP, June 2014

9. Sen’s idea of justice: Chapter 2: “Rawls and Beyond” 4. His focus on the contractarian approach and its difference with the utilitarian approach allows him to neglect the exploration of other approaches that are neither contractarian nor utilitarian 5. The use of social contract limits the involvement of participants in the pursuit of justice to the members of a given polity, or “people”, without allowing to grasp the relevance of global perspectives and global justice B. Giovanola, Economic Ethics, UIBE - IUP, June 2014

10. Sen’s idea of justice: Chapter 15: “Democracy as Public Reason”  Democracy does not belong exclusively to the West  Democracy has global origins  Democracy should not be seen just in terms of the demands of public balloting  Democracy should be seen in terms of the exercise of public reason (see Rawls and Habermas)  Democracy should be conceived as “government by discussion” (see Mill)  The central issues in a broader understanding of democracy are political participation, dialogue, and public interaction B. Giovanola, Economic Ethics, UIBE - IUP, June 2014

11. Sen’s idea of justice: Chapter 15: “Democracy as Public Reason”  The idea of justice and the practice of democracy are strictly interconnected  The crucial role of public reasoning in the practice of democracy makes the entire subject of justice relate closely with the topic of justice  If the demands of justice can be assessed only with the help of public reasoning, and if public reasoning is constitutively related to the idea of democracy, then there is an intimate connection between justice and democracy B. Giovanola, Economic Ethics, UIBE - IUP, June 2014

12. Sen’s idea of justice: Chapter 15: “Democracy as Public Reason”  Ballots do have a very important role even for the expression and effectiveness of the process of public reasoning, but they are not the only thing that matters  Moreover the effectiveness of ballots depends crucially on what goes with balloring, such as free speech, access to information and freedom of dissent  Balloting alone can be throughly inadequate on its own (political and punitive pressures, censorship, informational exclusion, climate of fear, suppression of political opposition, no independence of the media, absence of basic civil rights and political liberties, etc.) B. Giovanola, Economic Ethics, UIBE - IUP, June 2014

13. Sen’s idea of justice: Chapter 15: “Democracy as Public Reason”  One of the central issues for the advancement of public reasoning is support for free and independent press  Free and independent press are important for several reasons: 1. Direct contribution to the quality of our lives 2. Informative role in disseminatin knowledge and allowing critical scrutiny 3. Protective function in giving voice to the neglected and the disadvantaged B. Giovanola, Economic Ethics, UIBE - IUP, June 2014

14. Sen’s idea of justice: Chapter 15: “Democracy as Public Reason” 4. Contribution to the formation of values (including the relationship between majority rule and the protection of minority rights) 5. Critically important role in facilitating public reasoning in general The media is important not only for democracy but for the pursuit of justice in general B. Giovanola, Economic Ethics, UIBE - IUP, June 2014

15. Sen’s idea of justice: Chapter 16: “The Practice of Democracy”  Famine prevention and public reasoning: The proportion of the population affected by famine tends to be very small; what makes a famine a political disaster for a ruling government is the reach of public reasoning and its ability to make people take interest in and have a better understanding of the lives of others B. Giovanola, Economic Ethics, UIBE - IUP, June 2014

16. Sen’s idea of justice: Chapter 16: “The Practice of Democracy”  Democracy and development The assessment of development cannot be divorced from the lives that people can lead and the real freedom that they enjoy; if develpopment is understood in a broader way (namely, as the expansion of people’s capabilities), then it becomes immediately clear that the relation between development and democracy has to be seen also as a constitutive connection B. Giovanola, Economic Ethics, UIBE - IUP, June 2014

17. Sen’s idea of justice: Chapter 17: “Human Rights and Global Imperatives”  Two important issues: 1. The issue of content: it is the subject of the ethical assertion that is being made through the declaration of a human right: critical importance of certain freedoms need to accept some social obligations to promote or safeguard these freedoms B. Giovanola, Economic Ethics, UIBE - IUP, June 2014

18. Sen’s idea of justice: Chapter 17: “Human Rights and Global Imperatives” 2. The issue of viability of the ethical claims involved in a declaration of human rights: implicit presumption in making pronouncements on human rights that the underlying ethical claims will survive open and informed scrutiny exercise of “open impartiality”: critical scrutiny open to arguments coming from others and sensitive to the relevant information that can be obtained B. Giovanola, Economic Ethics, UIBE - IUP, June 2014

19. Sen’s idea of justice: Chapter 17: “Human Rights and Global Imperatives”  Ethics and law  Rights as freedoms  The plausibility of economic and social rights (“welfare rights”): Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) The inclusion of second-generation rights makes it possible to integrate ethical issues underlying general ideas of global development with the demands of deliberative democracy, both of which connect with human rights and quite often with an understanding of the importance of advancing human capabilities B. Giovanola, Economic Ethics, UIBE - IUP, June 2014

20. Sen’s idea of justice: Chapter 17: “Human Rights and Global Imperatives”  Objections to the inclusion of second- generation rights (“welfare rights”): 1. Instituzionalization critique: it relates to the idea that real rights must involve an exact correspondence with precisely formulated correlate duties, which would exist only if these rights were institutionalized But: there are both perfect and imperfect duties B. Giovanola, Economic Ethics, UIBE - IUP, June 2014

21. Sen’s idea of justice: Chapter 17: “Human Rights and Global Imperatives” 2. Feasibility critique: it proceeds from the argument that even with the best of efforts, it may not be feasible to realize many of the alleged economic and social rights for all But: if feasibility were a necessary condition for people to have any rights, then not just social and economic rights, but all rights – even the right to liberty – would be nonsensical, given the infeasibility of ensuring the life and liberty of all against transgression B. Giovanola, Economic Ethics, UIBE - IUP, June 2014

22. Sen’s idea of justice: Chapter 18: “Justice and the World”  Justice, Democracy, and Global Reasoning: non self-centered and non-parochial participatory process: objectivity public reasoning and democracy: political assessment – government by discussion the demands of democracy can be seen as ways of enhancing the objectivity of the political process B. Giovanola, Economic Ethics, UIBE - IUP, June 2014

23. Sen’s idea of justice: Chapter 18: “Justice and the World”  Global justice and global democracy: the distribution of the benefits of global relations depends not only on domestic policies, but also on a variety of international social arrangements these issues could be fruitful subjects for global dialogue, including criticisms coming from far as well as near B. Giovanola, Economic Ethics, UIBE - IUP, June 2014

24. Sen’s idea of justice: Chapter 18: “Justice and the World” Active public agitation, news commentary and open discussion are among the ways in which global democracy can be pursued, even without waiting for the global state The challenge today is the strengthening of this already functioning participatory process, on which the pursuit of global justice will to a great extent depend B. Giovanola, Economic Ethics, UIBE - IUP, June 2014

25. Sen’s idea of justice: Chapter 18: “Justice and the World”  Social contract versus social choice assessments of social realizations (rather than mere appraisal of institutions and arrangements) comparative issues of enhanchement of justice (rather than identification of perfectly just arrangements)  The pursuit of a theory of justice has something to do with the kind of creatures we human beings are. B. Giovanola, Economic Ethics, UIBE - IUP, June 2014