Just Liberal Violence: Sweatshops, Torture, War

by Michael Neu

'This book critically examines "just liberal violence": forms of direct and structural violence that others may be "justly" subjected to. Michael Neu focusses on liberal defences of torture, war and sweatshop labour, respectively, and argues that each of these defences fails and that all of them fail for similar reasons.

Liberal defences of violence share several blind spots, and it is the task of this book to reveal them. Neu offers a unifying perspective that reveals the three kinds of defence of violence under investigation as being essentially one of a kind. He demonstrates that each of these defences suffers from serious and irreparable intellectual defects and articulates these defects in a synthesised critique. The book goes on to accuse liberal defenders of being complicit in contemporary structures and practices of violence, and highlights the implications of this argument for moral and political philosophers who spend their professional lives thinking about morality and politics.'

Genres: Politics, Philosophy

147 pages, Paperback

Published November 1, 2017

Reviews

[Asim Qureshi · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent analysis of the arguments used by liberals to justify their pro-sweatshop, pro-torture and pro-war positions. Michael Neu does an excellent job of drawing a line between these liberal justifications, highlighting how there is a consistent theme running between these liberal defences. I would recommend this to anyone interested in the violence that is perpetrated by liberalism and liberal ideology in the world. Finally, his end chapter reflecting on Kazuo Ishiguro’s ‘Never Let Me Go’ and the way in which there layers of complicity that ‘justified’ the horrors that took place in his dystopian world, very profound.

[Victoria Margree · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a logical, precise, yet clear and very readable demolition of contemporary liberal defenses of such atrocities as sweatshops, war and torture. An extremely important book.

[Vasilis · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Nothing will ever change in a world populated by well-intentioned, complicit reformers; people who occupy responsible positions in a society whose 'unjust background conditions' are axiomatically accepted as immutable. The maiming and killing will simply go on; critique will be choked; resistance shattered." Well done, Dr. Neu!