Is Rawls' Theory of Justice Biased by Methodological Nationalism?

La Théorie de la justice de Rawls est-elle biaisée par le nationalisme méthodologique?

Speranta Dumitru

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Abstract: Methodological nationalism assumes that, to understand a phenomenon, nation-states are the relevant units of analysis. This assumption has been recognized as a source of bias in most of the social sciences. Does it bias Rawls' understanding of justice, too? This paper argues that it does for at least two reasons. Firstly, what Rawls thinks justice requires on a global scale falls short of what states and international organisations actually do. Secondly, framing the difference principle in national terms, as Rawls did, is a way to increase the "citizenship rent", or the revenue a person receives just by being citizen of a rich country . The paper argues that methodological nationalism biases Rawls' understanding of justice by affecting both the plausibility and the coherence of his theory.

Keywords: Nationalism; Methodological nationalism; Theory of justice; Rawls; Inequality; International justice; Global Inequality; Branko Milanovic; State-centrism; Groupism; Territorialism; Citizenship; Rent; Basic structure; Difference principle; Justice; International Aid; Equal Opportunity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hme and nep-hpe
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Published in Dianoia. Rivista di Filosofia, 2021, 33 (2), pp.245-259. ⟨10.53148/1118⟩

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-03593056

DOI: 10.53148/1118

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