Discourses of Justice: Indicators of Crisis?

Werner Gephart

doi:10.5771/9783465147626

Summary

There have been numerous attempts to trace a historical, if not evolutionary, line through the development of discourses on justice. As impressive as this tradition is, the everyday use and labeling of people, actions, and structures as ‘just’ or ‘unjust’ seems to us to be far removed from it. In political discourse, from left to right, people make use of the semantics of justice, and in another sphere, a pluralistic use is emerging, namely in the world religions. Social developments seem to be characterised precisely by the fact that they claim to be evaluated from the perspective of ‘just/unjust’: this applies to the gender debate, the discourse on climate justice, intergenerational justice, questions of restorative justice, memory justice, or epistemic justice and ontological injustice in the religious discourse of Catholicism. At the same time, the spread of the vocabulary of justice seems to be both an expression and a harbinger of a crisis in the sphere, because if the distribution of goods, access to status, the use of essential goods, access to educational places of remembrance, and so on are perceived as ‘unjust’, then this indicates a ‘crisis’ in which a sphere can develop in a more just or more unjust direction.

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Bibliographic data

Edition: 1/2026
Copyright Year: 2026
ISBN-Print: 978-3-465-04762-9
ISBN-Online: 978-3-465-14762-6
Publisher: Klostermann, Frankfurt am Main
Series: CrisisAnalysis / KrisenAnalysen
Volume: 2
Language: English
Pages: 299
Product Type: Edited Book

1. Contents No access
Authors:
1. 1. A Sociological Discourse on ‘Justice’? No access
2. 1. 2.1 Dimensions of the ‘Cultures of Justice’ No access
  2. 2.2 Religious Grounds for the Validity of ‘Justice in the Horizon of Pluralism’ No access
  3. 2.3 Globalisation and Justice No access
  4. 2.4 Conflicts between ‘Cultures of Justice’ No access
  5. 2.5 Aesthetics of Justice: From Blindfolds to Farsightedness No access
  6. 2.6 In the Name of ‘Justice’ No access
3. 3. On the Development of the Theme in this Volume No access
4. References No access
1. Authors:
  1. 1. The Tension between the ‘Formal’ and ‘Substantive Justice’ as a Motor of Occidental Rationalisation: Max Weber No access
  2. 1. 2.1 Foundations of Durkheim’s Theory of Values in Wilhelm Wundt No access
    2. 2.2 The Paradoxical Creation of ‘Solidarity’ as a Just Social Structure through the Division of Labor No access
    3. 2.3 Justice as a ‘Fait Social’ No access
  3. 3. ‘Justice’ as the ‘Adequate Complexity’ of Society: Niklas Luhmann No access
  4. 1. 4.1 The Guarantee of Rightness through the Acceptance of Speech Act Offers No access
    2. 4.2 Justice in Post-Metaphysical Thinking No access
  5. 5. Justice as Justification: Luc Boltanski No access
  6. 6. Conclusion on the Sociological Discourse on Justice No access
  7. References No access
2. Authors:
  1. 1. Justice as a Central Theme of Practical Philosophy No access
  2. 2. The Beginnings of Greek Philosophy: Hesiod, Solon and Anaximander No access
  3. 3. The Crisis of the Idea of Divine Justice No access
  4. 4. Plato: God as the Measure of all Things and the Rebirth of Divine Justice No access
  5. 5. Aristotle Comprehensive Theory of Justice No access
  6. 6. Discourses on Justice from Hellenism to the Nineteenth Century No access
  7. 7. John Rawls’s Theory of Justice No access
  8. 8. Walzer’s Theory of Justice No access
  9. 9. Conclusion: Deep Disagreements on Justice No access
  10. References No access
  11. List of Figures No access
1. Authors:
  1. 1. Procedural Irregularities due to Fanaticism: Voltaire and the Calas Affair No access
  2. 2. The Death Penalty is a Barbarian Practice: Victor Hugo’s Struggle for its Abolishment No access
  3. 3. Truth against “Raison d’Etat”: Zola’s Engagement in the Dreyfus Affair No access
  4. 4. Conclusion and Epilogue No access
  5. References No access
2. Authors:
  1. 1. Introduction No access
  2. 2. The Relational and Social Impact of Collective Organized Violence No access
  3. 3. Understanding Reconciliation in Transitional and Crisis Contexts No access
  4. 4. Justice and Reconciliation Discourses: Conflicting or Complementary? No access
  5. 5. The Politics of Justice and Reconciliation Discourses No access
  6. 6. Closing Remarks No access
  7. References No access
3. Authors:
  1. 1. Introduction No access
  2. 2. First Thesis: Educational Oscillation between Appearance (theatrum mundi) and Reality (Final Weighing of Souls) No access
  3. 3. Second Thesis: Legitimisation through Judicial Sovereignty against any Subjectivation of Justice Standards No access
  4. 4. Third Thesis: Legitimising Rule beyond any Imperial Ecclesiastical Bailiwick No access
  5. 5. Conclusion: Mathematical Limits of the Early Modern theatrum mundi? No access
  6. References No access
1. Authors:
  1. 1. In the Country of Unlimited Opportunities No access
  2. 2. From Pluralism to Multiculturalism No access
  3. 3. In the Abysses of Identity Politics No access
  4. 4. In the Country of Limited Opportunities No access
  5. 5. Conclusion: Cultures in War Against Each Other No access
  6. References No access
2. Authors:
  1. 1. Introduction: France in Times of Crisis No access
  2. 2. From Front National to Rassemblement National No access
  3. 1. 3.1 Epistemic Justice: Common Sense No access
    2. 3.2. Enemies and Just Entitlements No access
  4. 4. Looking Ahead: Be Careful What You Wish for No access
  5. References No access
1. Authors:
  1. 1. Introduction No access
  2. 1. 2.1 Displacement in Conflict Zones: Gender-Specific Impacts No access
    2. 2.2 Migration Pathways and Gendered Barriers No access
    3. 2.3 Institutional Invisibility and Legal Gaps No access
    4. 2.4 IDP and Refugee Camps: Unsafe Sanctuaries No access
    5. 2.5 Climate-Induced Migration and Gender Disparities No access
  3. 1. 3.1 Crisis as a Multidimensional Construct No access
    2. 3.2 Intersectionality: Mapping Interlocking Inequalities No access
    3. 3.3 Justice and Human Rights Perspectives No access
    4. 3.4 Crisis and Vulnerability Theory No access
  4. 1. 4.1 Physical Borders: Securitization and the Militarization of Migration No access
    2. 4.2 Social and Cultural Barriers: Discrimination, Isolation, and Gender Norms No access
    3. 4.3 Legal Barriers: Gendered Exclusions in Access to Justice No access
  5. 1. 5.1 The Role of International Legal Frameworks No access
    2. 5.2 Domestic Legal Systems and Structural Shortcomings No access
    3. 5.3 Access to Justice: Strategies for Inclusion No access
  6. 1. 6.1 Gender-Sensitive Migration Policies No access
    2. 6.2 Building Gender-Inclusive Legal Frameworks No access
    3. 6.3 Global Best Practices No access
  7. 1. 7.1 Rethinking Borders as Spaces of Inclusion No access
    2. 7.2 Embedding Gender Equity in Governance No access
    3. 7.3 The Power of Advocacy and Feminist Movements No access
  8. 8. Conclusion No access
  9. References No access
2. Authors:
  1. 1. Introduction No access
  2. 2. Monumentality and Epistemicide No access
  3. 3. Edward Colston No access
  4. 4. Cecil Rhodes No access
  5. 5. John Batman No access
  6. 6. Conclusion No access
  7. References No access
1. Authors:
  1. 1. 1.1 The Non-Use of State Justice No access
    2. 1.2 The Existence of Extensive State Judicial Pluralism No access
  2. 1. 2.1 The Transformations of the State Legal Culture No access
    2. 2.2 The Alterations of the Legal Consciousness No access
  3. 3. Conclusion No access
  4. References No access
2. Authors:
  1. 1. Beyond a Distributive Perspective on Justice No access
  2. 2. Orthodoxy Juxtaposed: Constituting Heretics, Apostates, Jews, and Pagans No access
  3. 3. Aggiornamento Between Vatican II and CIC 1983 No access
  4. 4. The Catholic Gender Trouble No access
  5. 5. Identifying Epistemic and Ontic Injustice No access
  6. 6. The Papacy of Francis: A Revolution? No access
  7. 7. Opening the Door to Change? No access
  8. References No access
3. Authors:
  1. 1. Introduction No access
  2. 2.“ ‘Adl”: A Polysemic Concept with Variable Meanings No access
  3. 1. 3.1. Justice/Injustice in the Qur’an and Sunna No access
    2. 3.2 Theology, Moral Philosophy, and Politics No access
    3. 3.3 Science of the Foundations of Law No access
  4. 4. Justice as Institutional Practice No access
  5. 5. Conclusion No access
  6. References No access
Authors:
1. 1. 1.1 Sphere Sacrilege No access
  2. 1.2 Sphere Pluralism No access
  3. 1.3 Sphere Interpenetration No access
  4. 1.4 Sphere Tension No access
2. 2. ‘Spheres’ of Justice According to Michael Walzer No access
3. 1. 3.1 Defining ‘Crisis’ No access
  2. 3.2. Cultures of ‘Crisis’ No access
  3. 3.3 Escaping from Crisis Entanglement? No access
  4. 1. 3.4.1 War as a Crisis of Society? No access
    2. 3.4.2 Climate Change as a Crisis of Nature? No access
    3. 3.4.3 Pandemic as a Crisis of the Social Body? No access
4. References No access
About the Authors No access Pages 291 - 296
Acknowledgements No access Pages 297 - 298