Social justice is a central concern of contemporary politics and political theory. The essays in this collection provide perspectives on the origins, development and likely problems for our understanding of the concept of social or distributive justice. Exploring the sources and origins of modern theories of justice as well as their critiques, this study aims to provide an introduction to and survey of contemporary issues of social justice.

Can multiculturalists be egalitarians and should egalitarians be multiculturalists? Is the absence of cultural recognition an injustice in the same way as the absence of individual rights or basic resources? These are some of the questions considered in this wide-ranging series of essays inspired by the political philosopher Brian Barry.


Multiculturalist political theorists and policy-makers argue that liberal egalitarianism fails to take seriously the role of culture and group identity in defining harms and cases of injustice. Because liberal egalitarians adopt a...

Brian Barry's Justice as Impartiality confronts issues at the heart of modern political philosophy. This important collection examines various aspects of his argument and expands the discussion beyond the text to explore wider issues at the centre of contemporary debates about the nature and theories of distributive justice. It brings together responses from a wide range of Barry's critics including feminists, utilitarians, mutual advantage theorists, care theorists and anti-contractarians.Suitable for both undergraduates and academics working in political and legal theory, this text serves...