CFP: Journal of Applied Philosophy: Global Taxation

Concerns over climate change, global recessions, financial volatility, health deficits in poor countries, world poverty, and economic injustice have all resulted in global taxation policy proposals.  These include proposals of carbon taxes, currency transaction taxes, air-ticket taxes, and of reforms governing tax havens and disclosure requirements.  Such initiatives are currently enjoying serious analysis, attention and, in some cases, implementation success.

While issues concerning national taxation have long concerned philosophers — invoking core questions about the legitimacy of governments and their appropriate functions and about the nature of freedom, coercion, and property rights — the issue of global taxation has not received anything like the same attention. Through a special issue of this journal, we aim to remedy such neglect.

Some of the questions that the issue may address include:

• What moral justifications can be offered for global taxation?
• Who should be taxed?  Should some individuals or countries be exempt?  Should there be global taxes on businesses and multinational corporations?
• What should be taxed? What arguments favour taxing consumption, wealth, income, speculation, trade, sales, natural resources, or a host of other potential tax bases?
• It seems important to ensure that governance arrangements concerning taxation (including matters of collection, disbursement of revenue, and other decision-making) be accountable.  Is there a special
• problem of accountability at the global level?
• What entity(ies) should implement or enforce global taxation policies?  If these are to be transnational entities, what would be the source of legitimate authority for them to do so?  Would this authority
• conflict with state sovereignty?
• How (if at all) do implementation or feasibility issues affect the desirability of various tax proposals?
• Do arguments about global taxation shed light on some of the core concerns in political philosophy, such as the nature of property rights, freedom, coercion, interpersonal obligations, the legitimacy of authority, or appropriate governance of collective affairs?

We especially welcome papers that move discussion of global taxation topics in new directions.

The guest co-editors of the proposed volume will be Gillian Brock (Auckland), Tom Campbell (CAPPE, Australia), and Thomas Pogge (Yale).

The Journal now invites submissions of papers for this special issue. Submissions should be sent as an email attachment to [email protected] in a form suitable for blind review.  The maximum length of submissions to the Journal is 8000 words. Please mark the email subject heading: ‘For Global
Taxation Special issue’.

The deadline for submissions for this special issue is 15 January 2013.

Any queries about the proposed special issue can be directed to Gillian Brock: [email protected]