Poverty is quintessentially an issue of inequality or lack of social justice within and between nation states. And yet mainstream development theory and institutions of global governance continue to couch reducing poverty as a policy objective, rather than focus on underlying issues of inequality. This book confronts the failings of neo-liberalism and the global governance institutions that promote it. The aim is to explain how the current structure of global governance, which is biased towards the powerful nation states, could be radically changed through the principles of global social justice to deliver a mechanism for addressing inequality, and ultimately poverty. Social Justice and Development makes a significant contribution to current debates around development theory and policy. It explores why articulating social justice in development provides the potential for a fresh approach to global poverty, and one that would overcome the current theoretical ₁impasse₂. It is essentially an optimistic text that suggests how the principles of global social justice could be used to shift the development paradigm from a consensus that hinges on Washington to one that is global.
Introduction : social justice and development -- The right to development -- Neo-liberal economics, social justice, and development -- Economic globalisation, cosmopolitanism, and global social justice -- Global governance and rights to development : opportunity or charade? -- Non state actors and the right to development -- Global social justice and development.