The Role of Ideal Theory

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christie Hartley
Keyword(s):  
Ideal Theory ◽  
Racial Minorities ◽  
Gender Inequalities ◽  
Liberal Society ◽  
Social Categories ◽  
Ideal Society ◽  
Gender And Race ◽  
Theories Of Justice ◽  
Comprehensive Doctrines

This chapter discusses whether political liberalism’s commitment to ideal theory makes it ill-suited for theorizing about justice for socially subordinated groups such as women and racial minorities. It is shown that political liberalism’s commitment to ideal theory does not entail assuming away race or gender as social categories that give rise to concerns about justice. Even within a politically liberal well-ordered (ideal) society racial or gender inequalities may arise due to the role that beliefs about race or gender play in some persons’ comprehensive doctrines. Furthermore, it is argued that theories of justice developed for a well-ordered politically liberal society provide important guidance for correcting injustices on the basis of gender and race in nonideal societies.

scholarly journals The Facial Width-to-Height Ratio (fWHR) and Perceived Dominance and Trustworthiness: Moderating Role of Social Identity Cues (Gender and Race) and Ecological Factor (Pathogen Prevalence)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Subramanya Prasad Chandrashekar
Keyword(s):  
Mixed Effects ◽  
Facial Features ◽  
Social Categories ◽  
Height Ratio ◽  
Gender And Race ◽  
Pathogen Prevalence ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Trait Impressions ◽  
Moderating Role

People effortlessly form trait impressions from faces, and these impressions can affect a variety of important social and economic outcomes. Trait impressions based on facial features can be approximated to distinct dimensions: trustworthiness and dominance (Oosterhof & Todorov, 2008). One of the facial features, the facial width-to-height ratio (face ratio) is associated with the trait impressions. I tested whether social category (gender, race) of the target being perceived shapes the relationship between face ratio and perception of dominance and trustworthiness. In this preregistered study, using trait impression ratings of faces collected from 8800 participants across 44 countries, I employ mixed-effects analysis and report results on (1) the direct influence of social categories (gender and race) of the target on perceived dominance and trustworthiness, (2) the moderating role of social categories (gender and race) on the direct relationships between face ratio and perceived dominance and trustworthiness, and (3) the moderating role of pathogen prevalence on the direct relationships between face ratio and perceived dominance and trustworthiness.

The normative gap: mechanism design and ideal theories of justice

2019 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 407-434
Author(s):  
Zoë Hitzig
Keyword(s):  
Economic Theory ◽  
Public Schools ◽  
Mechanism Design ◽  
Ideal Theory ◽  
Theories Of Justice ◽  
K 12 ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Instructive Case

AbstractThis paper investigates the relationship between economic theory and theories of justice in the design of public policy. In particular, it focuses on the role of mechanism design in policy contexts beset with issues of social, racial and distributive justice. Economists’ involvement in redesigning Boston’s algorithm for allocating K-12 students to public schools serves as an instructive case study. The paper draws on the distinction between ideal theory and non-ideal theory in political philosophy and the concept of performativity in economic sociology to argue that mechanism design can enact elaborate ideal theories of justice. A normative gap thus emerges between the goals of the policymakers and the objectives of economic designs. As a result, mechanism design may obstruct stakeholders’ avenues for normative criticism of public policies, and serve as a technology of depoliticization.

Social Explanation: Structures, Stories, and Ontology. A Reply to Díaz León, Saul, and Sterken

Disputatio ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (50) ◽  
pp. 245-273 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sally Haslanger
Keyword(s):  
Social Theory ◽  
Critical Social Theory ◽  
Social Agency ◽  
Metaphysical Explanation ◽  
Gender And Race ◽  
Social Explanation ◽  
Critical Social

Abstract In response to commentaries by Esa Díaz León, Jennifer Saul, and Ra- chel Sterken, I develop more fully my views on the role of structure in social and metaphysical explanation. Although I believe that social agency, quite generally, occurs within practices and structures, the relevance of structure depends on the sort of questions we are asking and what interventions we are considering. The emphasis on questions is also relevant in considering metaphysical and meta-metaphysical is- sues about realism with respect to gender and race. I aim to demon- strate that tools we develop in the context of critical social theory can change the questions we ask, what forms of explanation are called for, and how we do philosophy.

Relational Segregation: A Structural View of Categorical Relations

2021 ◽  
pp. 073527512110299
Author(s):  
Jeremy E. Fiel
Keyword(s):  
Structural Feature ◽  
Social Conflict ◽  
Social Categories ◽  
Relational Approach ◽  
Advantages And Disadvantages ◽  
Formal Rules

This article builds a framework for a relational approach to segregation that emphasizes structures of interactions, transactions, and ties between and within social categories. Rather than explaining segregation with dominants imposing formal rules or homophilic people sorting themselves, I highlight segregation’s emergence amid dueling control efforts among actors with malleable categorical identities. And rather than assuming segregation necessarily fuels cycles of inequality or persecution, I identify nuanced advantages and disadvantages for different actors in social conflict. I also explore an underappreciated role of institutions in segregation: They guide relations across different domains of activity that may have different degrees of segregation. An overarching theme is that segregation is not a specific thing with regular causes and effects but an inherently contradictory structural feature of relations that evolves as actors struggle for control.

scholarly journals Should we Ascribe Capabilities to Species and Ecosystems? A Critical Analysis of Ecocentric Versions of the Capabilities Approach

2021 ◽  
Vol 34 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anders Melin
Keyword(s):  
Critical Analysis ◽  
Political Liberalism ◽  
Capabilities Approach ◽  
Overlapping Consensus ◽  
As Species ◽  
Theories Of Justice ◽  
Comprehensive Doctrines ◽  
Sentient Beings

AbstractMartha Nussbaum’s capabilities approach is today one of the most influential theories of justice. In her earlier works on the capabilities approach, Nussbaum only applies it to humans, but in later works she extends the capabilities approach to include sentient animals. Contrary to Nussbaum’s own view, some scholars, for example, David Schlosberg, Teea Kortetmäki and Daniel L. Crescenzo, want to extend the capabilities approach even further to include collective entities, such as species and ecosystems. Though I think we have strong reasons for preserving ecosystems and species within the capabilities approach, there are several problems with ascribing capabilities to them, especially if we connect it with the view that species and ecosystems are subjects of justice. These problems are partly a consequence of the fact that an ascription of capabilities to species and ecosystems needs to be based on an overlapping consensus between different comprehensive doctrines, in accordance with the framework of political liberalism on which the capabilities approach builds. First, the ascription of capabilities to species and ecosystems presupposes the controversial standpoint that they are objectively existing entities. Second, the ascription of capabilities to ecosystems and species and the view that they are subjects of justice is justified by claiming that they have integrity and agency, but these characteristics have different meanings when applied to collective entities and humans, respectively. Third, the view that species and ecosystems are subjects of justice seems to require the controversial assumption that they have interests of their own, which differ from the interests of the sentient beings that are part of them. However, even if we do not ascribe capabilities to species and ecosystems and regard them as subjects of justice, there are still strong reasons to protect them within the capabilities approach, as the preservation of ecosystems and species is an important precondition for many human and animal capabilities.

scholarly journals Difficult Times: The Division of Domestic Work under Lockdown in France

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 219
Author(s):  
Marta Dominguez-Folgueras
Keyword(s):  
Domestic Work ◽  
Time Constraints ◽  
Gender Inequalities ◽  
French Population ◽  
Heterosexual Couples ◽  
Representative Survey ◽  
Domestic Sphere ◽  
Time Availability ◽  
Difficult Times

The lockdowns enforced in many countries to contain the spread of COVID-19 had important consequences for the domestic sphere. This paper analyzes the division of domestic work among heterosexual couples in France during the lockdown. In particular, we analyzed the role of time constraints and availability and expected to find a more egalitarian division of domestic work among couples in which the man had more time than his partner due to not working or working from home. We used data from the ELIPSS panel, a representative survey of the French population, and ran OLS regressions on the division of domestic work among 406 couples. The results show that men’s time availability was associated with a more egalitarian division of domestic work, even if gender inequalities persisted. However, we did not find any clear differences between men who did not work and men who worked from home, leading us to hypothesize that men’s presence at home is an important factor.

scholarly journals Non-discursive Knowledge and the Construction of Identity Potters, Potting and Performance at the Bronze Age Tell of Százhalombatta, Hungary

2009 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 203-220 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandy Budden ◽  
Joanna Sofaer
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
Bronze Age ◽  
Social Categories ◽  
Social Sphere ◽  
Construction Of Identity ◽  
Differential Acquisition ◽  
The Social ◽  
And Performance ◽  
The Bronze Age

This article explores the relationship between the making of things and the making of people at the Bronze Age tell at Százhalombatta, Hungary. Focusing on potters and potting, we explore how the performance of non-discursive knowledge was critical to the construction of social categories. Potters literally came into being as potters through repeated bodily enactment of potting skills. Potters also gained their identity in the social sphere through the connection between their potting performance and their audience. We trace degrees of skill in the ceramic record to reveal the material articulation of non-discursive knowledge and consider the ramifications of the differential acquisition of non-discursive knowledge for the expression of different kinds of potter's identities. The creation of potters as a social category was essential to the ongoing creation of specific forms of material culture. We examine the implications of altered potters' performances and the role of non-discursive knowledge in the construction of social models of the Bronze Age.

Working role of women in a pandemic world: a poetic inquiry

2022 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Davide de Gennaro ◽  
Francesca Loia ◽  
Gabriella Piscopo
Keyword(s):  
Gender Gap ◽  
Working Women ◽  
Diversity Management ◽  
Gender Inequalities ◽  
Remote Work ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Poetic Inquiry ◽  
Women’S Perceptions ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose The sudden outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has affected millions of people globally, and it has exacerbated the existing gender inequalities that have affected women. The purpose of this study is to understand the perceptions of women concerning gender inequality in the workplace during the current pandemic. The goal is to give women a voice so they can explain their feelings regarding the problems they face in a pandemic world. Design/methodology/approach In this study, four poetic inquiries were developed to investigate how the lives of working women were changed during the pandemic in Italy. Poetic methodology is a creative and aesthetic representation of qualitative research that is capable of reporting data with more fluidity and freedom. Findings The results suggest that the gender gap is increasing and is embodied in a series of relational and economic problems related to remote work, in difficulty in reconciling private and work life and in a series of new telematic violence against women. Practical implications This study offers practical implications for policymakers by suggesting the application of diversity management initiatives to remove barriers to gender equality. Originality/value This study, through a poetic approach, is the first to investigate women's perceptions during the pandemic related to difficulties experienced in the work sphere.

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