Caring For Justice

Over the past decade, mainstream feminist theory has repeatedly and urgently cautioned against arguments which assert the existence of fundamental—or essential—differences between men and women. Any biological or natural differences between the sexes are often flatly denied, on the grounds that such an acknowledgment will impede women's claims to equal treatment. In Caring for Justice, Robin West turns her sensitive, measured eye to the consequences of this widespread refusal to consider how women's lived experiences and perspectives may differ from those of men. Her work calls attention to two critical areas in which an inadequate recognition of women's distinctive experiences has failed jurisprudence. We are in desperate need, she contends, both of a theory of justice which incorporates women's distinctive moral voice on the meaning of justice into our discourse, and of a theory of harm which better acknowledges, compensates, and seeks to prevent the various harms which women, disproportionately and distinctively, suffer. Providing a fresh feminist perspective on traditional jurisprudence, West examines such issues as the nature of justice, the concept of harm, economic theories of value, and the utility of constitutional discourse. She illuminates the adverse repercussions of the anti-essentialist position for jurisprudence, and offers strategies for correcting them. Far from espousing a return to essentialism, West argues an anti- anti-essentialism, which greatly refines our understanding of the similarities and differences between women and men.

“I learned that the problems were much deeper than a flawed criminal justice system, and that our work needed to begin in our relationships with each other and the natural world, and most importantly, with ourselves.” (from the preface) Restorative justice, as it exists in Canada and the U.S., has been co-opted and relegated to the sidelines of the dominant criminal justice system. In Security, With Care, Elizabeth M. Elliott argues that restorative justice cannot be actualized solely within the criminal justice system. If it isn’t who we are, says Elliott, then the policies will never be sustainable. Restorative justice must be more than a program within the current system – it must be a new paradigm for responding to harm and conflict. Facilitating this shift requires a rethinking of the assumptions around punishment and justice, placing emphasis instead on values and relationships. But if we can achieve this change, we have the potential to build a healthier, more ethical and more democratic society.

Over the past decade, mainstream feminist theory has repeatedly and urgently cautioned against arguments which assert the existence of fundamental—or essential—differences between men and women. Any biological or natural differences between the sexes are often flatly denied, on the grounds that such an acknowledgment will impede women's claims to equal treatment. In Caring for Justice, Robin West turns her sensitive, measured eye to the consequences of this widespread refusal to consider how women's lived experiences and perspectives may differ from those of men. Her work calls attention to two critical areas in which an inadequate recognition of women's distinctive experiences has failed jurisprudence. We are in desperate need, she contends, both of a theory of justice which incorporates women's distinctive moral voice on the meaning of justice into our discourse, and of a theory of harm which better acknowledges, compensates, and seeks to prevent the various harms which women, disproportionately and distinctively, suffer. Providing a fresh feminist perspective on traditional jurisprudence, West examines such issues as the nature of justice, the concept of harm, economic theories of value, and the utility of constitutional discourse. She illuminates the adverse repercussions of the anti-essentialist position for jurisprudence, and offers strategies for correcting them. Far from espousing a return to essentialism, West argues an anti- anti-essentialism, which greatly refines our understanding of the similarities and differences between women and men.

This book begins with versions of the ethic of care and the ethic of justice. It argues that the ethic of care reveals important problems with the concept of autonomy, but that these problems are not present in all versions of autonomy.

This thought-provoking volume confronts the expected tension between care and justice as moral orientations. These original essays, by renowned educators, reveal how these two moral orientations can work together to produce wiser and more practical policies and practices. The authors explore problems at every level of education and tackle tough questions in theory, practice, and policy making. Using real-life examples, they illustrate the great value of theoretical collaboration, instead of competing with each other, justice and care should complement each other in both moral theory and practice. Contents and Contributors: PART I: Theory of Justice and Caring (1) Care, Justice, and Equity–Nel Noddings (2) Justice, Caring, and Universality: In Defense of Moral Pluralism–Kenneth A. Strike (3) Justice and Caring: Process in College Students’ Moral Reasoning Development–Dawn E. Schrader PART II: Pedagogical Issues (4) Teaching About Caring and Fairness: May Sarton’s The Small Room–Michael S. Katz (5) The Ethical Education of Self-Talk–Ann Diller (6) Caring, Justice, and Self-Knowledge–William L. Blizek PART III: Public Policy Issues (7) School Vouchers in Caring Liberal Communities–Rita C. Manning (8) Ethnicity, Identity, and Community–Lawrence Blum (9) School Sexual Harassment Policies: The Need for Both Justice and Care–Elizabeth Chamberlain and Barbara Houston.

Care and women's emancipation have often been seen as opposed. Politicians have begun to look again at the issue of care in the context of new reforms in the welfare state, health care policies and family law. Using concrete examples taken from parental rights cases, health care education and the public health sector. Using concrete examples taken from the practice and discourse of care, those found in parental rights issues, health care education, the family and in the public health sector, Sevenhuijsen argues for revaluation of care from a feminist perspective.

Americans now face a caring deficit: there are simply too many demands on people’s time for us to care adequately for our children, elderly people, and ourselves.At the same time, political involvement in the United States is at an all-time low, and although political life should help us to care better, people see caring as unsupported by public life and deem the concerns of politics as remote from their lives. Caring Democracy argues that we need to rethink American democracy, as well as our fundamental values and commitments, from a caring perspective. The idea that production and economic life are the most important political and human concerns ignores the reality that caring, for ourselves and others, should be the highest value that shapes how we view the economy, politics, and institutions such as schools and the family. Care is at the center of our human lives, but Tronto argues it is currently too far removed from the concerns of politics. Caring Democracy traces the reasons for this disconnection and argues for the need to make care, not economics, the central concern of democratic political life. Joan C. Tronto is a Professor in the Political Science Department at the University of Minnesota. She is the author of Moral Boundaries: A Political Argument for an Ethic of Care (Routledge).

This book, an essential tool for anyone studying the state of feminist thought in particular or ethical theory in general, shows the outlines of an ethic of care in the distinctive practices of African American communities and considers how the values of care and justice can be reformulated.