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Summary literature Solidarity and Social Justice
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Literature Solidarity & Social JusticeWeek 1
Rawls, J. (1971). A Theory of Justice. Boston: Harvard University Press. Chapter 1:
Justice as Fairness pp. 3-22.
His main idea is that of justice as fairness, a theory of justice that generalizes and carries to a higher
level of abstraction the traditional conception of the social contract.
Principles of justice: Let us assume, to fix ideas, that a society is a more or less self-sufficient
association of persons who in their relations to one another recognize certain rules of conduct as
binding and who for the most part act in accordance with them. Then, although a society is a
cooperative venture for mutual advantage, it is typically marked by a conflict as well as by an identity
of interests. There is an identity of interests since social cooperation makes possible a better life for
all than any would have if each were to live solely by his own efforts. There is a conflict of interests
since persons are not indifferent as to how the greater benefits produced by their collaboration are
distributed, for in order to pursue their ends they each prefer a larger to a lesser share. A set of
principles is required for choosing among the various social arrangements which determine this
division of advantages and for underwriting an agreement on the proper distributive shares.
Why are the principles of social justice needed?
Because there is an identity of interest, but also a conflict of interest. The principles of social justice
are needed to solve this.
Social justice = the way in which the major social institutions distribute fundamental rights and duties
and determine the division of advantages from social cooperation.
Main idea of the theory
In justice as fairness the original position of equality corresponds to the state of nature in the
traditional theory of the social contract. This is a hypothetical situation. Among the essential features
of this situation is that no one knows his place in society, his class position or social status, nor does
anyone know his fortune in the distribution of natural assets and abilities, his intelligence, strength,
and the like. The principles of justice are chosen behind a veil of ignorance. This ensures that no one
is advantaged or disadvantaged in the choice of principles by the outcome of natural chance or the
contingency of social circumstances. Since all are similarly situated and no one is able to design
principles to favor his particular condition, the principles of justice are the result of a fair agreement
or bargain. This conveys the idea that the principles of justice are agreed to in an initial situation that
is fair.
Features of justice as fairness:
- Parties in the initial situations are rational and mutually disinterested. I shall maintain instead
that the persons in the initial situation would choose two rather different principles: the first
requires equality in the assignment of basic rights and duties, while the second holds that
social and economic inequalities, for example inequalities of wealth and authority, are just
only if they result in compensating benefits for everyone, and in particular for the least
advantaged members of society.
- Justice as fairness could be seen as a partial contract theory. The merit of the contract
terminology is that it conveys the idea that principles of justice may be conceived as
, principles that would be chosen by rational persons, and that in this way conceptions of
justice may be explained and justified. A principle of utility is incompatible with the principles
of justice, because of that initial position. He is proposing a social contract (= an implicit
agreement among people in society about how to cooperate).
Difference principle (versus utility): could also be seen as the maximin principle. Inequality in a
society is only acceptable if the least advantaged benefit. So, it is just if some people benefit more,
but the least advantaged should at least benefit. So, this type of inequality is okay.
Yerkes, M.A., & Bal, M. (2021). Why Solidarity and Social Justice Still Matter
Today. In Solidarity and Social Justice in Contemporary Societies: An
Interdisciplinary Approach to Understanding Social Inequalities. M.A. Yerkes, & M.
Bal. (forthcoming) (not available online; provided through Blackboard)
Social inequality is the uneven allocation of burdens and valued resources across members of a
society based on their group membership. Importantly, what defines the uneven allocation of these
burdens and valued resources as social inequalities, is the undervaluing of specific groups within
these allocations.
The articulation and protection of citizen’s social rights are the foundation of modern welfare states,
which traditionally provide government-protected minimum standards of income, nutrition, health,
housing, and education.
Social policies form a crucial part of the ways in which welfare states attempt to identify and address
social inequalities as well as social risks that have societal consequences.
Social inequalities can be seen as social dilemmas. Social dilemmas are situations in which short-term
self-interests conflict with longer-term societal interests. In these dilemmas individuals are better off
if they do not act cooperatively, but everybody is better off if everyone cooperates compared to the
situation in which no one cooperates.
People can move past their self-interested behavioral tendencies by adopting self-transcending
motives, i.e., motives that extend beyond the self. Both social justice and solidarity can be considered
self-transcending motives.
Solidarity is thus one example of a self-transcending motive. If solidarity is about having a common
identity, feelings of brotherhood, and a willingness to share resources, social justice provides the
rules through which people can do so. Social justice is concerned with questions of allocation.
Week 2
Stjernø, S. (2009). Solidarity in Europe. The History of an Idea. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press. Chapter 1: Solidarity in classic social theory, pp 25-
41.
Brotherhood developed in the French revolution and philosophers tried to find a way to combine the
idea of individual rights and liberties with the idea of social cohesion and community. Solidarity was
the solution here. The concept was a broad and inclusive one and it aimed at restoring the social
integration that had been lost. In this chapter we will see how the idea of solidarity was developed in
three areas – classic sociology, socialist theory and Christian social ethics. Brotherhood points to the
close relations and the feelings of belonging that exist within the family and extends this
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