Globalizing Justice: The Ethics of Poverty and Power

by Richard W. Miller

Overview

Combining deep moral argument with extensive factual inquiry, Richard Miller constructs a new account of international justice. Though a critic of demanding principles of kindness toward the global poor and an advocate of special concern for compatriots, he argues for standards of responsible conduct in transnational relations that create vast unmet obligations. Governments, firms and people in developed countries, above all, the United States, by failing to live up to these responsibilities, take advantage of people in developing countries.

Miller's proposed standards of responsible conduct offer answers to such questions as: What must be done to avoid exploitation in transnational manufacturing? What framework for world trade and investment would be fair? What duties do we have to limit global warming? What responsibilities to help meet basic needs arise when foreign powers steer the course of development? What obligations are created by uses of violence to sustain American global power?

Globalizing Justice provides new philosophical foundations for political responsibility, a unified agenda of policies for responding to major global problems, a distinctive appraisal of 'the American empire', and realistic strategies for a global social movement that helps to move humanity toward genuine global cooperation.

"A work of great political urgency. The theoretical position ... is fresh and original ... No other recent book on Miller's subject displays a similar combination of philosophical imagination and deep engagement in the realities of global political and economic life."
Charles Beitz, Princeton University, The Idea of Human Rights

"Miller breaks a new path. ... a superb example of applied ethics. Its recommendations cannot be ignored by those of us who are critical of American foreign policy, but do not know exactly what alternative to advocate." John Roemer, Yale University

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780199581993
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	05/13/2010
Pages:	350
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Richard Miller is Professor of Philosophy at Cornell University.

Table of Contents

1. Kindness and Its Limits2. Compatriots and Strangers3. Globalization Moralized4. Global Harm and Global Equity — The Case of Greenhouse Justice5. Modern Empire6. Empire and Obligation7. Imperial Excess8. Quasi-Cosmopolitanism9. Global Social Democracy

What People are Saying About This

Charles Beitz

"Richard Miller has given us a work of great political urgency concentrating on the political responsibilities of citizens of wealthy and powerful societies who interact with the world's poor through a complex network of transactions and relationships. The theoretical position he defends is fresh and original and will lead many readers to reconsider conventional ways of thinking about global justice. It will also encourage them to engage more deeply with the literatures of world politics and global political economy, which inform the argument throughout. No other recent book on Miller's subject displays a similar combination of philosophical imagination and deep engagement in the realities of global political and economic life."-- (Charles Beitz, Princeton University)

John Roemer

"In his attempt to discover what obligations citizens of rich countries have to those in the developing world, Miller breaks a new path between radical cosmopolitanism and fair bargaining. Filled with concrete historical detail as well as philosophizing, this book is a superb example of applied ethics. Its recommendations cannot be ignored by those of us who are critical of American foreign policy, but do not know exactly what alternative to advocate. The global-warming discussion is particularly enlightening."-- (John Roemer, Yale University)

Editorial Reviews

"A significant and distinctive contribution to the contemporary philosophical debate on global justice. Globalizing Justice is an exemplar of philosophical analysis that is exacting and rigorous but also sensitive to and informed by the realities of the world. The result is a novel systematic approach to the problem of global justice." —Kok-Chor Tan, Social Theory and Practice

"Richard Miller has given us a work of great political urgency concentrating on the political responsibilities of citizens of wealthy and powerful societies who interact with the world's poor through a complex network of transactions and relationships. The theoretical position he defends is fresh and original and will lead many readers to reconsider conventional ways of thinking about global justice. It will also encourage them to engage more deeply with the literatures of world politics and global political economy, which inform the argument throughout. No other recent book on Miller's subject displays a similar combination of philosophical imagination and deep engagement in the realities of global political and economic life."—Charles Beitz, Princeton University

"In his attempt to discover what obligations citizens of rich countries have to those in the developing world, Miller breaks a new path between radical cosmopolitanism and fair bargaining. Filled with concrete historical detail as well as philosophizing, this book is a superb example of applied ethics. Its recommendations cannot be ignored by those of us who are critical of American foreign policy, but do not know exactly what alternative to advocate. The global-warming discussion is particularly enlightening."—John Roemer, Yale University

"Miller's Globalizing Justice is an important contribution to thought about transnational justice. The book's combination of fresh, compelling theoretical argument and deep engagement in the realities of global political and economic life are a paradigm for philosophical work on this subject, and indeed for applied ethics in general."—Benjamin Rossi, The Review of Politics

From the Publisher