A Liberal Theory Of International Justice

A Liberal Theory of International Justice advances a novel theory of international justice that combines the orthodox liberal notion that the lives of individuals are what ultimately matter morally with the putatively antiliberal idea of an irreducibly collective right of self-governance. The individual and her rights are placed at center stage insofar as political states are judged legitimate if they adequately protect the human rights of their constituents and respect the rights of all others. Yet, the book argues that legitimate states have a moral right to self-determination and that this right is inherently collective, irreducible to the individual rights of the persons who constitute them. Exploring the implications of these ideas, the book addresses issues pertaining to democracy, secession, international criminal law, armed intervention, political assassination, global distributive justice, and immigration. A number of the positions taken in the book run against the grain of current academic opinion: there is no human right to democracy; separatist groups can be morally entitled to secede from legitimate states; the fact that it is a matter of brute luck whether one is born in a wealthy state or a poorer one does not mean that economic inequalities across states must be minimized or even kept within certain limits; most existing states have no right against armed intervention; and it is morally permissible for a legitimate state to exclude all would-be immigrants.

This book controversially addresses key topics in the area of international justice, including human rights, democracy, secession, international criminal tribunals, armed intervention, political assassination, global economic inequality, and immigration.

This book gives an account of a full spectrum of property rights and their relationship to individual liberty. It shows that a purely deontological approach to justice can deal with the most complex questions regarding the property system. Moreover, the author considers the economic, ecological, and technological complexities of our real-world property systems. The result is a more conceptually sound account of natural rights and the property system they demand. If we think that liberty should be at the centre of justice, what does that mean for the property system? Economists and lawyers widely agree that a property system must be composed of many different types of property: the kind of private ownership one has over one’s person and immediate possessions, as well as the kinds of common ownership we each have in our local streets, as well as many more. However, theories of property and justice have not given anything approaching an adequate account of the relationship between liberty and any other form of property other than private ownership. It is often thought that a basic commitment to liberty cannot really tell us how to arrange the major complexities of the property system, which diverge from simple private ownership. Property and Justice demonstrates how philosophical rigour coupled with interdisciplinary engagement enables us to think clearly about how to deal with real-world problems. It will be of interest to political philosophers, political theorists, and legal theorists working on property rights and justice.

This text argues, from a liberal perspective, for a radical re- interpretation of existing ideas concerning social justice. Since the 1980s there has been debate between liberals and their critics, Concerning The Use Of Impartiality As A Notion On Which To Base Social theories of justice. In introducing an impartial standard of the right, the implications are often sexist, anthropocentric, capitalistic and oppressive. Wissenberg argues that this does not mean we should abandon the ideal of impartiality and defends the thesis that impartiality and the liberal project can be saved.; The book explores a liberal theory of Justice That Takes The Core Notion Of Impartiality Seriously; That Takes account of moral pluralism without trying to downgrade it or reduce it to the rank of a secondary problem; that argues for principles of justice Respecting Individual Notions Of The Good Life Rather Than Reformulating them in terms of one universal measure of the good or the right; that cherishes plurality, diversity and tolerance instead of uniformity and moral indifference.

Recent crises in trade policy and globalization highlight both the problematic role of economic inequality in international trade law and the shortcomings of contemporary, largely economic, approaches to this problem and to international trade law generally. This book argues for an alternative approach to the problem of trade and inequality, as a problem of justice. Drawing on political and moral theory and legal philosophy, the author develops a Rawlsian model for justice as fairness in international trade law. This model highlights the important normative role of the principle of special and differential treatment, which can justify economic inequality by making the wealthy markets of developed states work to the benefit of smaller economies, thus satisfying the difference principle as applied to international economic relations. Applying this model to contemporary trade law, the author offers concrete proposals for modifying existing special and differential treatment doctrine, and suggests ”second generation” policies for the problem of inequality once special and differential treatment is either fully implemented or rendered obsolete. Published under the Transnational Publishers imprint.

This title was first published in 2000: Bringing oes liberalism have either the theoretical capacity or the political durability to provide for social justice, particularly given the challenges of the new millennium? From a diverse array of disciplinary, cultural and critical perspectives, the contributors to this timely and incisive collection of essays cover ground ranging from the philosophical adequacy of liberalism’s central tenets, to the treatment of minority and alternative cultures in contemporary Europe, to the future of welfare provision, to the continued tenability of traditional ideological distinctions and labels amid the social conditions and demands of the new millennium. The book will be of particular interest to philosophers, political scientists and social and legal theorists - and to anyone with a general interest in the present and future horizons of social justice in theory and practice.