The Faces of Injustice
- ISBN-10
- 0300056702
- ISBN-13
- 9780300056709
- Category
- Political Science
- Pages
- 144
- Language
- English
- Published
- 1990-01-01
- Publisher
- Yale University Press
- Author
- Judith N. Shklar
Description
How can we distinguish between injustice and misfortune? What can we learn from the victims of calamity about the sense of injustice they harbor? In this book a distinguished political theorist ponders these and other questions and formulates a new political and moral theory of injustice that encompasses not only deliberate acts of cruelty or unfairness but also indifference to such acts. Judith N. Shklar draws on the writings of Plato, Augustine, and Montaigne, three skeptics who gave the theory of injustice its main structure and intellectual force, as well as on political theory, history, social psychology, and literature from sources as diverse as Rosseau, Dickens, Hardy, and E. L. Doctorow. Shklar argues that we cannot set rigid rules to distinguish instances of misfortune from injustice, as most theories of justice would have us do, for such definitions would not take into account historical variability and differences in perception and interest between the victims and spectators. From the victim's point of view--whether it be one who suffered in an earthquake or as a result of social discrimination--the full definition of injustice must include not only the immediate cause of disaster but also our refusal to prevent and then to mitigate the damage, or what Shklar calls passive injustice. With this broader definition comes a call for greater responsibility from both citizens and public servants. When we attempt to make political decisions about what to do in specific instances of injustice, says Shklar, we must give the victim's voice its full weight. This is in keeping with the best impulses of democracy and is our only alternative to a complacency that is bound to favor the unjust.
Get the book
Similar books
-
Ordinary Vices
By Judith N. ShklarA look at political ethics covers cruelty, hypocrisy, snobbery, betrayal and misanthropy, and is accompanied by a description of modern public opinion about these vices Shklar looks to literature to find characters and situation that can ...
-
Picking Cotton: Our Memoir of Injustice and Redemption
By Jennifer Thompson-Cannino, Ronald Cotton, Erin TorneoWith Picking Cotton, Jennifer and Ronald tell in their own words the harrowing details of their tragedy, and challenge our ideas of memory and judgment while demonstrating the profound nature of human grace and the healing power of ...
-
Injustices: The Supreme Court's History of Comforting the Comfortable and Afflicting the Afflicted
By Ian MillhiserAs ABA president Charles Manderson explained in 1899, “nature, in her evolutionary processes, moves with a deliberation only equaled by her precision. Her motto seems to be, 'make haste slowly!'”63 To legal elites who believed that the ...
-
Epistemic Injustice: Power and the Ethics of Knowing
By Miranda FrickerIn this ground-breaking book, the entanglements of reason and social power are traced in a new way, to reveal the different forms of epistemic injustice and their place in the broad pattern of social injustice.
-
Against Injustice: The New Economics of Amartya Sen
By Paul Dumouchel, Reiko GotohThe rest of the book addresses a variety of theoretical and empirical issues that relate to this conception, concluding with a response from Sen to his critics.
-
The Prayer of Revenge: Forgiveness in the Face of Injustice
By Doug SchmidtBe prepared to learn the life-changing keys to forgiving the unrepentant through a new-found confidence in God's willingness to accomplish justice on your behalf. Find out how forgiveness and justice can abide as one in this gripping book!
-
Cold Intimacies: The Making of Emotional Capitalism
By Eva IllouzBuilding on and revising the intellectual legacy of critical theory, this book addresses these questions and offers a new interpretation of the reasons why the public and the private, the economic and the emotional spheres have become ...
-
Everyday Injustice: Latino Professionals and Racism
By Maria ChavezDespite considerable success in overcoming educational, economic, and class barriers, Latino professionals still experience marginalization. Everyday Injustice is a powerful illustration of racism and inequality in America.
-
Sins Of Silence: Stories About Those Who Act In The Face Of Injustice And Those Who Remain Silent
By William a BeckhamIn the face of injustice, would you act or remain silent? This unique book contains stories of incredible courage and deafening silence in the face of injustice.
-
Deliberate Injustice: The Wrongful Conviction of Ken Wyniemko
By Bob HenigeDeliberate Injustice: The Wrongful Conviction of Ken Wyniemko