1st Edition

Injustice at Work

By Francois Dubet Copyright 2009
    254 Pages
    by Routledge

    254 Pages
    by Routledge

    Though it is difficult to describe what a just world should be, everyone is able to denounce injustice when he/she is a victim or a witness of it. Based on a long-term study of workers, this new book tests and expands upon prevailing theories of justice by Rawls, Nozick, Taylor, Walzer, and other important philosophers. Injustice at Work describes the way workers perceive social injustice. It reveals why they so often feel unequal, scorned, dominated, and alienated at work. The book develops three principles of justice-equality, merit, and autonomy-showing how individuals combine them in singular moral and social experiences that constitute people's relation to society. Dubet also shows, in a liberal and globalized society, why it has become more and more difficult to denounce the social causes of injustice and fight them.

    Introduction; Chapter 1: Equality; I. Of "Castes" and Contempt; II. The Just Order and Honor; III. Discrimination and Equal Opportunity; IV. "As for Me, I'm OK"; Chapter 2: Merit; I. Merit is Just; II. Unrecognized Merit; III. Exploitation; IV. What Does Merit Measure?; Chapter 3: Autonomy; I. But I Love My Job; II. Independence and Autonomy; III. From Vocation to Self-Realization; IV. The Manual Trades; V. Alienation; Chapter 4: Law, Power, and Recognition; I. Defending One's Rights; II. Power; III. Recognition; Chapter 5: Why is the World so Unjust?; I. Equality vs. Egoism and Anomie; II. Merit vs. Privilege and Favoritism; III. Autonomy vs. Egalitarianism and the Cruelty of Merit; IV. Everything's Getting Worse; Chapter 6: The Social Distribution of Feelings of Injustice; I. The Distribution of Injustices and Social Status; II. A "Pragmatic" Approach to the Principles of Justice; III. Perceived Injustices and Off-the-Job Inequalities; IV. Subjective Injustices Spans the Political Spectrum; Chapter 7: Injustice and Action; I. Just Inequalities; II. Destiny and Sin; III. Are the Victims Really Innocent?; IV. We're all Part of the System; V. The Gulf Between Justice and Collective Action; Conclusion.

    Biography

    François Dubet, Valérie Caillet, Régis Cortéséro, David Mélo, Françoise Rault