M. Walzer and contemporary communitarianism

The author in her article focuses on the views of M. Walzer, encompassed specifically in his works „Spheres of Justice“ – „The Defence of Equality and Pluralism“, and „The Just and Unjust Wars“. The focus is given to equality, pluralism, and justice which represent the main issues considered by the contemporary communitarianism.

Contrasting sentiments of social justice in France and Quebec

Sociologists from many countries have recently paid attention to measures of social justice sentiments. In doing so, they are following the lead of philosophers like John Rawls (1971) or Michael Walzer (1983), among many others, and are now studying the question of justice empirically. Do individuals evaluate justice from the perspective of equity (or fairness) like Rawls proposed? Do they conceptualize different spheres of justice like Walzer argued? Only empirical studies can provide answers to these questions and offer “grounded knowledge” (Boudon 2012) that is knowledge that connect philosophical concepts with the actions and thought of social actors, at least in contemporary democratic societies.

Michael Walzer, Spheres of Justice

This essay examines the ideas and influence of Michael Walzer’s Spheres of Justice. It argues that Walzer’s influence on the discipline has taken a different form than many other writers on justice, such as Rawls, where the central ideas have been taken up and argued about in essentially Rawlsian terms. Walzer’s influence has operated on different levels, of which we can distinguish at least three. There is a micro level, with numerous authors picking up fruitful ideas, lines of inquiries or suggestions, found in Walzer’s work, and appropriating them or using them to pursue further arguments. There is a more general social justice level, where ideas that are central to his understanding of social justice have been appropriated by diverse thinkers, often in quite different ways. He has been also influential on a very general, methodological level, where theorists have adopted his method and style of doing political theory.

Just Above the Fray - Interpretive Social Criticism and the Ends of Social Justice

The article lays down the broad strokes of an interpretive approach to social criticism. In developing this approach, the author stresses the importance of both a pluralistic notion of social justice and a rich ideal of personal growth. While objecting to one-dimensional conceptions of social justice centering on legal equality, the author develops the idea of there being multiple "spheres of justice", including the spheres of "care" and "merit". Each of these spheres, he argues, is subject to historical interpretation. He furthers this view by arguing that the social basis for these different spheres is best understood against the canvas of an ideal of self-fulfillment and individuality. Based on the elaboration of these two sets of premises—a pluralistic conception of social justice and a collective ideal of personal self-fulfillment—the article outlines the basis for and challenges inherent to the practice of interpretive social criticism.