Justice Unbound? Globalization, States and the Transformation of the Social Bond
Author(s)
Devetak, Richard; Higgott, Richard
Abstract
Conventional accounts of justice suppose the presence of a stable political society, stable identities, and a Westphalian cartography of clear lines of authority – usually a state – where justice can be realized. They also assume a stable social bond. But what if, in an age of globalization, the territorial boundaries of politics unbundle and a stable social bond deteriorates? Can there be justice in a world where that bond is constantly being disrupted or transformed by globalization? This article thus argues that we need to think about the relationship between globalization, governance and justice. It does so in three stages: first, it explains how, under conditions of globalization, assumptions made about the social bond are changing; second, it demonstrates how strains on the social bond within states give rise to a search for newer forms of global political theory and organization, and the emergence of new global (non-state actors) which contest with states over the policy agendas emanating from globalization; and third, despite the new forms of activity identified in the second stage, the article concludes that the prospects for a satisfactory synthesis of a liberal economic theory of globalization, a normative political theory of the global public domain, and a new social bond are remote.
