Synopses & Reviews
'Distributive injustices such as low pay, inferior health care and housing, as well as diminished opportunities in school, continue to blight the lives of millions of the urban poor in America and beyond.
This book announces a new theory of justice. Paul Gomberg:
- Focuses on how race and class structure unequal life prospects
- Shows how human society can be organized in a way that does not socialize children for lives of routine labor
- Maintains that true equality of opportunity comes only when all labor, both routine and complex, is shared
- Proposes a new paradigm for the theory of justice. While Rawls, Sen, Nozick, and Walzer conceive justice as addressing how various goods are fairly obtained or distributed, Gomberg argues that justice in distribution must advance contributive opportunities and duties
On Gomberg’s contributive theory of justice, each person contributes to society not for individual material gain, but from a sense of what is required in order to build just relations with others.
Passionate and radical, but rigorously argued, this book makes a vital and original contribution to philosophy and social thought.
A discussion board for ideas and comments relating to the book can be found at: http://howtomakeopportunityequal.blogspot.com/.'
Review
Distributive injustices such as low pay, inferior health care and housing, as well as diminished opportunities in school, continue to blight the lives of millions of the urban poor in America and beyond.
This book announces a new theory of justice. Paul Gomberg:
- Focuses on how race and class structure unequal life prospects
- Shows how human society can be organized in a way that does not socialize children for lives of routine labor
- Maintains that true equality of opportunity comes only when all labor, both routine and complex, is shared
- Proposes a new paradigm for the theory of justice. While Rawls, Sen, Nozick, and Walzer conceive justice as addressing how various goods are fairly obtained or distributed, Gomberg argues that justice in distribution must advance contributive opportunities and duties
On Gomberg’s contributive theory of justice, each person contributes to society not for individual material gain, but from a sense of what is required in order to build just relations with others.
Passionate and radical, but rigorously argued, this book makes a vital and original contribution to philosophy and social thought.
A discussion board for ideas and comments relating to the book can be found at: http://howtomakeopportunityequal.blogspot.com/.
“Paul Gomberg makes a powerful and provocative case that real equality of opportunity can only be achieved by overturning the social division of labor that unfairly handicaps not just blacks but the working class in general.”
–Charles W. Mills, University of Illinois at Chicago
“An important and original contribution to contemporary debates about justice in political philosophy; an accessible introduction to those debates for students and the lay reader; and a powerful and important challenge to policymakers, educators and employers, to think hard about their responsibilities for enabling people to lead flourishing lives.”
–Harry Brighouse, University of Wisconsin-Madison
“In this impressive book, Paul Gomberg argues ardently, with great optimism, and with philosophical and sociological sophistication, for a radical new theory of egalitarian justice."
–David Copp, University of Florida
"hard-hitting, knowledgeable and engaging"
–Alexander Brown, University College London
Review
“Paul Gomberg makes a powerful and provocative case that real equality of opportunity can only be achieved by overturning the social division of labor that unfairly handicaps not just blacks but the working class in general.”
–Charles W. Mills, University of Illinois at Chicago
“An important and original contribution to contemporary debates about justice in political philosophy; an accessible introduction to those debates for students and the lay reader; and a powerful and important challenge to policymakers, educators and employers, to think hard about their responsibilities for enabling people to lead flourishing lives.”
–Harry Brighouse, University of Wisconsin-Madison
“In this impressive book, Paul Gomberg argues ardently, with great optimism, and with philosophical and sociological sophistication, for a radical new theory of egalitarian justice."
–David Copp, University of Florida
"hard-hitting, knowledgeable and engaging"
–Alexander Brown, University College London
Review
“How to Make Opportunity Equal is a bold and principled attempt to grapple with the fundamental problem of justice in the modern world, and along the way manages to throw a great deal of light on the insidious character of modern racial categorizations.” (
Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews, June 2009)
"Gomberg writes in a hard-hitting, knowledgeable and engaging way about the problems of racism in society and marshals an array of evidence to illustrate his case." (Ethical Theory and Moral Practice)
Synopsis
This critical examination of racial equality takes a new approach to breaking down racial barriers by proposing a system of equal opportunity through shared labor and contributive justice.
- Focuses on how race and class inevitably structure vastly unequal life prospects
- Shows how human society can be organized in a way that does not socialize children for lives of routine labour
- Looks towards contribution, not distribution, as a way to promote racial equality
- Argues that by sharing routine and complex labor, social relationships would be transformed, eliminating competition for limited opportunities to develop and contribute abilities
A discussion board for ideas and comments relating to the book can be found at: http: //howtomakeopportunityequal.blogspot.com/
Synopsis
This critical examination of racial equality takes a new approach to breaking down racial barriers by proposing a system of equal opportunity through shared labor and contributive justice. A discussion board for ideas and comments relating to the book can be found at: http: //howtomakeopportunityequal.blogspot.com/.
Synopsis
Distributive injustices such as low pay, inferior health care and housing, as well as diminished opportunities in school, continue to blight the lives of millions of the urban poor in America and beyond.
This book announces a new theory of justice. Paul Gomberg:
- Focuses on how race and class structure unequal life prospects
- Shows how human society can be organized in a way that does not socialize children for lives of routine labor
- Maintains that true equality of opportunity comes only when all labor, both routine and complex, is shared
- Proposes a new paradigm for the theory of justice. While Rawls, Sen, Nozick, and Walzer conceive justice as addressing how various goods are fairly obtained or distributed, Gomberg argues that justice in distribution must advance contributive opportunities and duties
On Gomberg’s contributive theory of justice, each person contributes to society not for individual material gain, but from a sense of what is required in order to build just relations with others.
Passionate and radical, but rigorously argued, this book makes a vital and original contribution to philosophy and social thought.
A discussion board for ideas and comments relating to the book can be found at: http://howtomakeopportunityequal.blogspot.com/.
About the Author
Paul Gomberg is Professor of Philosophy at Chicago State University. He has published widely in political philosophy, the history of philosophy, and on race in journals such as Ethics, American Philosophical Quarterly, and The Journal of Social Philosophy. His writing reflects his experience as an anti-racist activist and teacher.
Table of Contents
Preface
- Who Toils? Race, Equal Opportunity, and the Division of Labor
- Against Leveling the Playing Field
- Against Limiting Opportunity
- Egalitarianism of Opportunity and Other Egalitarianisms
- Can Everyone be Esteemed?
- Opportunity for What? Defending the Constellation
- Sharing Labor
- Transforming Relationships
- Is Inequality Necessary?
- Are Some Born Smarter than Others?
- Race and Political Philosophy
- Justice and Markets
- Contributive Justice
.
Acknowledgments.
References.
Index