Justice in the XXI Century: New Challenges, New Directions of Inquiry

Over the past three decades, profound socioeconomic, political, and technological shifts have reshaped our world. It has become evident—not only to scholars but also to the broader public—that the assumption of liberal democracy’s inevitable, continuous expansion is unfounded. This is especially true if the forces undermining liberal democracy, and preventing it from fulfilling its promises of freedom, non-domination, and self-determination, remain unaddressed. Unsurprisingly, the liberal paradigm now faces explicit scrutiny over its capacity to provide valid and effective normative guidance at both domestic and global levels. Many contend that the challenges confronting today’s democracies stem from the paradigm’s intrinsic limitations—particularly its failure to address the root causes of pressing social problems. These include: the sharp rise in economic inequality, now approaching levels reminiscent of the Belle Époque; the persistence of structural racism and patriarchy; the exclusion of large segments of the population from the benefits of cooperation, fueling new forms of populism and authoritarianism; the inability to counter a distorted marketplace of ideas saturated with misinformation, echo chambers, and polarization; and the political backsliding and apathy surrounding climate change. We invite contributions that explore new, plural, and context-sensitive approaches to justice, and that encourage robust interdisciplinary engagement.

This conference marks the official launch of the project Justice in the XXI Century: A Perspective from Latin America (JUSTLA), a consortium of 7 European universities and 11 Latin American academic institutions forming a carefully built network of scholars dedicated to developing new lines of research in political theory that challenge the dominant liberal paradigm of justice, with a focus on democracy and economic inequality, cultural identities (gender, race, and decolonization), the role of science in politics in the post-truth era, and climate justice.