Has anyone here read "Why Social Justice Matters" by Brian Barry?

[Stargleamer]

I hope to get this book for X-Mas. It really sounds like a good book, that discusses the growing inequality in this and other countries.


<http://www.polity.co.uk/book.asp?ref=074562992X>

[TaleWgnDg]

1. On social justice . . . (the Democratic Party view)

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The book promo sounds okay:

"Why Social Justice Matters"
By Brian Barry, Arnold A. Saltzman Professor, Department of Political Science and Department of Philosophy, Columbia University and Emeritus Professor of Political Science at the London School of Economics.

Description:
While social injustice has been increasing, the idea of social justice has been undermined by unfounded appeals to "personal responsibility" and "equal opportunity." These have been employed as an excuse for doing nothing about the enrichment of the few at the expense of the many and for making ever harsher demands on the poor and vulnerable. With grace and wit, Brian Barry exposes the shoddy logic and distortion of reality that underpins this ideology. Once we understand the role of the social structure in limiting options, we have to recognize that really putting into practice ideas such as equal opportunity and personal responsibility would require a fundamental transformation of almost all existing institutions.
Barry argues that only if inequalities of wealth and income are kept within a narrow range can equal prospects for education, health and autonomy be realized. He proposes a number of policies to achieve a more equal society and argues that they are economically feasible. But are they politically possible? The apparent stability of the status quo is delusory, he responds: radical changes in our way of life are unavoidable. Whether these changes are for better or for worse depends partly on the availability of a coherent set of principles and a programme flowing from them that is capable of mobilizing the growing discontent with business as usual'. That is, ultimately, why social justice matters.

Although I am unfamiliar with the author since my area is law. I will add, however, that "social justice" is the essence of what the radical rightwing neocons have been systematically removing -- successfully removing -- from the legal and political scene in America for the past 30 or so years. An in-your-face example of which is the debacle of non-social programs when it raised its head for all to see in the after-affects of Hurricane Katrina, and George Walker Bush's federal judicial nominations in order to cement those neo-con non-social programs into place for the next 50-to-80 years!

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