Towards Justice

by Marek Hrubec

Overview

Towards Justice seeks to address the tensions of global social misrecognition and injustice.

The book is based on a critique of liberal and libertarian contradictions with their conflictual consequences, and analyses of critical social theories and perspectives from the Global South (Latin America, Africa, and Asia), as well as the Global North. Hrubec deals with the dispute over particular and universal norms on local, regional, and global levels, extra-territorial social recognition of the global poor, strategic socialism, threats of global hegemony, authoritarianism, and war in light of various conflicts.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9798888907856
Publisher:	Haymarket Books
Publication date:	07/01/2026
Series:	Historical Materialism
Pages:	352
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.00(d)

About the Author

Marek Hrubec is a Senior Research Fellow at the Czech Academy of Sciences and the Global Studies Association of North America. He has authored and edited many texts, including Africa in a Multilateral World (co-ed. Routledge, 2022).

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements

List of Tables

About Towards Justice

Introduction

Part 1
Founding a Critical Theory
1 Social Critique
1 Internal Social Criticism

2 The Trichotomy of Critique, Explanation, and Normativity

3 External Social Criticism


2 Critical Methods
1 Transdisciplinary Approaches

2 The Realism of Societal Development

3 Structures, Actors, and Processes in History


Part 2
Development of Critical Theory
3 The Programme of Critical Theory
1 Horkheimer’s Foundations

2 Marcuse’s Foundations

3 Adorno and Horkheimer’s Redefinition


4 Critical Paradigms
1 Work and Eros

2 Communication and Recognition

3 Global Interactions


Part 3
Limits of Liberal Liberty
5 Deficits of National Liberty
1 Inadequacies of Public Reason

2 Problems of Individualism and Instrumental Reason

3 Shortcomings of Redistribution

4 Marginalisation of Redistribution and the Problem of Ownership


6 Deficits of International Liberty
1 An Inadequate Relationship between an Individual and Community

2 Comparison of the Principles of Justice
 2.1 Principles of International Justice in a Theory of Justice

 2.2 Principles of International Justice in the Law of Peoples

 2.3 Principles Which Regulate Relations between Individuals within the National Framework in a Theory of Justice


3 Shortcomings of International Redistribution

4 Unsustainability of Liberal International Order


Part 4
Experience of Recognition
7 Dilemmas of Local Recognition
1 The Crystallisation of Recognition

2 From the Private Sphere to the Public Sphere

3 Political Public Sphere

4 Recognition of Equality and Difference


8 Dilemmas of Transnational Recognition
1 Interstate Recognition

2 Transcending Interstate Recognition

3 Transnational Recognition

4 Macro-regional Interactions


Part 5
Global Perspectives of Justice
9 Intercultural Polylogue: Cultural and Political Justice
1 Intercultural and Civilizational Polylogue

2 Dispute on the Universalism of Human Rights

3 Plurality of Cultures and Civilizations

4 Common Norms for Humanity


10 Extraterritorial, Strategic, and Global Interactions: Social, Economic, and Security Justice
1 An Identification of the Misrecognized Subjects

2 Extraterritorial Recognition: Regulation of the Economy

3 Transformative Revolution and Strategic Structures

4 Overcoming Global Conflicts


 Conclusion: The Principles of a Theory of Global Social Justice
1 Social and Economic Justice

2 Political and Cultural Justice



References

Index

Editorial Reviews

"Marek Hrubec has long been a top international thinker on global interactions and social justice. His new book deserves close attention by all those concerned with contemporary world tensions and alternatives to hegemony and authoritarianism."  – Jerry Harris, National Secretary, Global Studies Association of North America, Chicago

"Marek Hrubec has given us a theoretical and historical tour de force on critical social theory in relation to the epochal events of the past half a century and the struggle for global social justice. Coming at a time of great suffering worldwide in the face of acute crisis in the world capitalist system, his theoretical and analytical formulations on global social justice will be of great importance for those seeking to make sense of the world-historic conjuncture we face at the quarter-century mark as well as for activists from the diverse social movements, both South and North, struggling for a better world." – William I. Robinson, Distinguished Professor of Sociology, University of California at Santa Barbara

"Marek Hrubec has given us a theoretical and historical tour de force on critical social theory in relation to the epochal events of the past half a century and the struggle for global social justice. Coming at a time of great suffering worldwide in the face of acute crisis in the world capitalist system, his theoretical and analytical formulations on global social justice will be of great importance for those seeking to make sense of the world-historic conjuncture we face at the quarter-century mark as well as for activists from the diverse social movements, both South and North, struggling for a better world."—William I. Robinson, Distinguished Professor of Sociology, University of California at Santa Barbara

"In this book, Marek Hrubec gives Critical Theory a global perspective. He accurately analyzes the unsustainability of imposed conservative liberalism and counters it with global justice and democratic socialism that takes the Global South seriously." –Emil Sobottka, Professor, PUCRS University, Porto Alegre, Brazil

"This impressive book draws on the very important issue of global social justice, related to the historical events of the 20th century and the major international conflicts of this century. Marek Hrubec analyses the issue of global justice dealing with a perspective of critical theory and further formulates an alternative theory of global social justice for anticipating the future. This book is full of insightful thinking and is worth reading and necessary reading." – Wei Xiaoping, Distinguished Professor, Institute of Philosophy, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing

From the Publisher