Convenors: \;Joseph Conrad (University \;of Edinburgh)\, É\;liot Litalien (CRÉ\;/Université\; de Montré\;al)\, Rebecca Richards (University \;of Edinburgh)\, Jules Salomone-Sehr \;(CRÉ\;/McGill University)\, Hanna Schü\;bel \;(Université\; de Fribourg)\, Lukas Sparenborg (Goethe-Universitä\;t Frankfurt am \;Main)
Structural \;injustices describe large-scale injustices whose roots have less to do with \;individual malice than with unfair social structures. Put on the philosophical \;agenda by Iris \;Marion Young\, this notion is meant to capture the fact that \;sweeping harms (e.g.\, homelessness\, exploitative labor practices\, etc.) often \;do not result from the vicious attitudes \;of particular individuals but\, rather\, \;from the ordinary activities of decent people whose behaviors and \;decision-making are constrained by a network of institutional structures. \;Since \;Young&rsquo\;s work\, this notion has been widely used in political philosophy and has \;generated an important literature. Yet\, many central questions about the nature \;of \;structural injustices and how they are tied to the conduct of agents \;(whether individual or collective) remain unanswered. \;
One \;cluster of such central questions bear on our responsibility for bringing about \;structural injustices\, as well as our responsibility for repairing or ending \;them. In particular\, it \;seems crucial to investigate the sort of responsibility \;that we should attribute and to which agents\, and the factors that should \;inform our attributions of responsibility. Structural \;injustices trace back\, by \;and large\, to unfair social structures rather than to the discreet actions of \;specific agents. We thus need to examine what it is that we can hold agents \;responsible for. We might think\, for instance\, that we should hold agents \;responsible for their past contributions to structures of injustice \;(backward-looking responsibility). Or\, \;we might rather think that what present \;agents are responsible for is to put an end to structural injustices and stop \;them recurring in the future (forward-looking responsibility). In \;other words\, \;we need to determine what model(s) of responsibility best elucidate(s) the \;moral intricacies of structural injustices.
Moreover\, \;while structural injustices affect the lives of people today\, \;understanding and overcoming such injustices requires us to look beyond the \;confines of the present. To \;adequately theorise structural injustices and \;assign responsibility for ameliorating them\, we need to look at the agents \;contemporarily involved and assess the moral quality of \;their actions. At the \;same time\, we need to question how socio-structural processes arose \;historically\, and how historical agents\, such as colonial states\, caused historical \;injustices and perpetuated them. Additionally\, we need to explicate how current \;and future social groups might be affected by these unjust structures. This\, \;then\, can serve as a \;basis to theorise specific future-oriented \;responsibilities and necessary overhauls to the global system to overcome \;structural injustices.
In this workshop\, we invite contributions that \;investigate structural injustice(s) and their connection with political and \;moral responsibility. While we welcome any contributions \;that explore the \;question of responsibility for structural injustice\, we are particularly \;interested in papers that focus on how the passage of time alters structural \;injustices and \;justice claims. We invite contributions that\, for example\, \;explore the role of history in understanding present structural injustices\, or \;that explore issues of justice that arise in the \;future as a result of present \;structural processes. Moreover\, we are interested in contributions that answer \;questions about both individual and collective responsibility in the \;face of \;structural injustices perpetuated over time. Questions to be addressed may \;include:
Abstract Submission Deadline \;and Details
We would appreciate it if \;interested parties could send us abstracts (maximum 750 words)\, prepared for \;anonymous review\, to \;manceptstructuralinjustice@gmail.com \;by \;5 \;June 2022. Selected \;participants will be asked to submit a \;draft \;paper prior to \;the 7 &ndash\; 9 September event. \;We envision a hybrid setting\, with \;sessions to be split into hour-long \;discussions of contributions\, divided \;between 10-20 minutes author presentations\, 5-10 minute reply from allocated \;respondent\, and subsequent open discussions.
Registration
This is part of the MANCEPT \;Workshops in Political Theory. Registration for the workshops \;will open in May. The anticipated fees are as follows:
In-Person
Academics: £\; 230.00
PG: £\; 135.00
Dinner: £\; 30
Online attendance
Academics: £\;45.00
PG: £\;20
Non-speaker: £\;15
MANCEPT will offer a small \;number of fee waiver bursaries. The deadline for bursary applications \;(available to current graduate students only) will be \;27 June 2022. \;Successful applicants will be informed by 11 July 2022. We will send \;further details if your piece is accepted. We will provide decision notices in \;time for people to complete \;bursary applications.
For more information about the \;MANCEPT Workshops\, please visit their webpage: \;https://sites.manchester.ac.uk/mancept/mancept-workshops/mancept-workshops-2022/