Summary
Michele Moody-Adams's "Making Space for Justice" argues that progressive social movements are crucial for understanding and achieving justice. These movements, from abolitionism to Black Lives Matter, not only enact political change but also pose fundamental philosophical questions about justice's meaning and realization. Moody-Adams asserts that anyone involved with justice theory or practice must learn from these movements, which are considered springboards for moral inquiry and agents of social transformation.
The book explores how social movements have illuminated the nature of justice and the practical steps needed to create space for it. It highlights that social justice requires humane regard for others, encompassing both compassionate concern and robust respect. Furthermore, Moody-Adams emphasizes that successful movements harness imagination to foster motivation for pursuing justice and building institutions and policies that sustain it.
Key concepts
- Progressive social movements — Agents of social change that pose philosophical questions about justice.
- Humane regard for others — Combines compassionate concern and robust respect, a demand of social justice.
- Transformative power of imagination — Used by successful movements to strengthen motivation for justice.
- Political hope — Inspired by imagination, this fuels the pursuit of justice.
From the book
Description: Longlist, 2023 Edwards Book Award, Rodel Institute From nineteenth-century abolitionism to Black Lives Matter today, progressive social movements have been at the forefront of social change. Yet it is seldom recognized that such movements have not only engaged in political action but also posed crucial philosophical questions about the meaning of justice and about how the demands of justice can be met. Michele Moody-Adams argues that anyone who is concerned with the theory or the practice of justice—or both—must ask what can be learned from social movements. Drawing on a range of compelling examples, she explores what they have shown about the nature of justice as well as what it takes to create space for justice in the world. Moody-Adams considers progressive social…
Snippet: ... <b>Moody-Adams</b>, “<b>Culture</b>, <b>Responsibility and Affected Ignorance</b>,” Ethics 104 (January 1994): 291–309. 11. Cheshire Calhoun, “<b>Responsibility</b> and Reproach,” Ethics 99 (1989): 396–97. 12. Catharine A. MacKinnon, afterword to Feminism ...