Scales of Justice: Reimagining Political Space in a Globalizing World

by Nancy Fraser

Until recently, struggles for justice proceeded against the background of a taken-for-granted the bounded territorial state. With that "Westphalian" picture of political space assumed by default, the scope of justice was rarely subject to open dispute. Today, however, human-rights activists and international feminists join critics of structural adjustment and the World Trade Organization in challenging the view that justice can only be a domestic relation among fellow citizens. Targeting injustices that cut across borders, they are making the scale of justice an object of explicit struggle.

Inspired by these efforts, Nancy Fraser What is the proper frame for theorizing justice? Faced with a plurality of competing scales, how do we know which one is truly just? In exploring these questions, Fraser revises her widely discussed theory of redistribution and recognition. She introduces a third, "political" dimension of justice—representation—and elaborates a new, reflexive type of critical theory that foregrounds injustices of "misframing." Engaging with thinkers such as Jürgen Habermas, John Rawls, Michel Foucault, and Hannah Arendt, she envisions a "postwestphalian" mapping of political space that accommodates transnational solidarity, transborder publicity, and democratic frame-setting, as well as emancipatory projects that cross borders. The result is a sustained reflection on who should count with respect to what in a globalizing world.

Genres: Nonfiction, Theory, Philosophy, Politics, Justice

224 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2008

About the author

Nancy Fraser is an American critical theorist, currently the Henry A. and Louise Loeb Professor of Political and Social Science and professor of philosophy at The New School in New York City. Fraser earned her PhD in philosophy from the CUNY Graduate Center and taught in the philosophy department at Northwestern University for many years before moving to the New School.

Librarian Note: There is more than one author with this name in the Goodreads database.

See also: Romance author Nancy Fraser

Reviews

[Ted Morgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have to reread this work. I read it during a time when my brain was not working properly. There is an entire body of literature here that I do not yet know but believe I ought to learn.

[Sry Puteri · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book discusses about participatory parity that is triggered by economic disparity and hierarchies of cultural values, therefore we need politics to include representation and how to include framing to overcome injustices of misframing.

[Marina Rz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not entirely convinced about the need for this revision—I’m pretty sure political representation is already included in the recognition aspect of justice. Either way, Fraser always offers a committed and refreshing perspective.

[Christy Hammer · Rating 5 out of 5]

An important tweaking of justice theory and provocation to increase our capacity to evaluate justice in the world and in nation-states. I hadn't read her earlier justice theory, so this update was an excellent argument and defense for using the lessons of feminism and socialism to critique current justice theory as inadequate and for starting to conceptualize what a just world would look like.

[Machely Flores · Rating 4 out of 5]

"La lucha por las necesidades. Esbozo de una teoría crítica socialista-feminista de la cultura política del capitalismo tardío"

[Paula · Rating 4 out of 5]

Probablemente los últimos 4 capítulos no tenían mucha relevancia para mi tesis, pero me quedé porque es Nancy Fraser.