Distributive Justice

When Michael Walzer's Spheres of Justice was published ten years ago, the front page of The New York Times Book Review hailed the work as "an imaginative alternative to the current debate over distributive justice". Now in Thick and Thin, Walzer revises and extends his arguments in Spheres of Justice, framing his ideas about justice, social criticism, and national identity in light of the new political world that has arisen in the past decade. Walzer focuses on two different but interrelated kinds of moral argument: maximalist and minimalist, thick and thin, local and universal. According to Walzer the first, thick type of moral argument is culturally connected, referentially entangled, detailed, and specific; the second, or thin type, is abstract, ad hoc, detached, and general. Thick arguments play the larger role in determining our views about domestic justice and in shaping our criticism of local arrangements. Thin arguments shape our views about justice in foreign places and in international society. The book begins with an account of minimalist argument, then examines two uses of maximalist arguments, focusing on distributive justice and social criticism. Walzer then discusses minimalism with a qualified defense of self-determination in international society, and concludes with a discussion of the (divided) self capable of this differentiated moral engagement. Walzer's highly literate and fascinating blend of philosophy and historical analysis will appeal not only to those interested in the polemics surrounding Spheres of justice but also to intelligent readers who are more concerned with getting the arguments right.

The concept of organizational justice refers to perceptions of fairness within organizations. Justice as a social phenomenon has received a great deal of research attention from social psychologists. With new research on fairness in organizations, scholars in organizational behavior, industrial/organizational psychology, and managers are provided with practical orientations on how to create fair working environments. Although organizational fairness is not a panacea for managers, it can help boost employee morale and cooperation. Perceptions of unfairness have been related to negative attitudes and behaviors such as employee theft, lack of commitment, lawsuits, and recently aggressive behaviors in the workplace. Perceptions of fair treatment, on the other hand, have been related to positive outcomes such as employee commitment, trust, and cooperation that are conducive to organizational performance.

The core of this book is a novel theory of distributive justice premised on the fundamental moral equality of persons. In the light of this theory, Rakowski considers three types of problems which urgently require solutions-- the distribution of resources, property rights, and the saving of life--and provides challenging and unconventional answers. Further, he criticizes the economic analysis of law as a normative theory, and develops an alternative account of tort and property law.

Environmental sustainability and social justice are both widely regarded as desirable social objectives. Professor Dobson's powerful new study explores the relationship between these two objectives and concludes that radical environmental demands are only incompletely served by couching them in terms of justice.

This important new study presents a systematic and definitive critique of Ronald Dworkin's highly influential theory of liberal equality. Focusing on the connection Dworkin attempts to establish between economic markets and liberal egalitarian political morality, the study examines his contention that markets have an indispensable role to play in the articulation of liberal ideals of distributive justice, individual liberty, and state neutrality. Subjecting the central tenents of this theory to sustained critical analysis, the author argues that Dworkin's attempt to establish deep affinities between the market and equality is unsuccessful and his proposed solutions to some central controversies in political theory are seriously flawed. This powerful examination of the work of America's leading public philosopher reveals some timely lessons about the hazards and limitations of the market as a device for the articulation and realization of egalitarian justice.

By exploring the integral relationship between democracy and economic justice, this study explains how democratic countries with market systems should deal with the problem of high levels of income-inequality. The book provides an interdisciplinary approach that combines political, economic, and legal theory. It also analyzes the nature of economic society and the considerations bearing upon the ethics of relative pay, such as the nature of individual contributions and the extent of community. Hb ISBN (2000): 0-521-79033-6