Starting Small Leads to Big Change

Nancy Fraser in the article ‘On Justice’ guides us through a new idea of achieving justice. This particular article raises so many questions such as how can we actually bring the theories of justice in practice into our social world. In Plato’s ideal state there are three major classes, corresponding to the three parts of the soul. The guardians, who govern the city; the auxiliaries are soldiers who defend it; and the lowest class comprises the producers (farmers, artisans, etc). For Plato, justice is the harmonious balance among these constituents elements (The Republic). Even though many philosophers refused to agree with Plato, others have supported it. John Rawls in his book A Theory of Justice described ‘justice as fairness’. In his view justice can flourish by overcoming the institutionalized injustice. Nancy Fraser pointed out that both Plato and Rawls’s theories were confining but for the article ‘on justice’ she drew their ideas onto it and also examined the novel Never Let Me Go by Kuzuo Ishiguro.

All the philosophies stated about how the society works, how the unjust behaviour is accepted to be normal. Fraser’s strategies to bring the theories of justice into practice includes, firstly we need to identify the injustice and raise our voice against the unjust behaviour. We need to differentiate between the right and wrong and come to a solution that can end this wrong or change the situation. Secondly, we should not draw lines between guardians and workers. We should not classify society because it can lead to injustice. Thirdly, we should not focus on the categorization of the society rather we should look at the ground rules to see if one group is dependent on another group for survival and then only we can justify that both group are living in the same moral universe and deserve equal consideration in matters of justice. Fourth, we should be careful about situations that might look just and fair but it is being manipulated by the people living permanently in that place and maintaining a social standard longer than the dominated group. Fifth, we should look beyond the social structure of classification and consider their living standard in the society not as their personal problem. Sixth, if there is no protest for injustice that does not mean it is a just and fair society. Sometimes it can be the oppressed group can not raise their voice because there is no freedom of expression and they have agreed to live under domination. Therefore, we should scrutinize the public sphere well. Seventh, we should reconnect subjectivity and objectivity and finally, as Fraser said, we should value the demands of the oppressed, their need to have a better life even in their most unfavourable circumstances we should appreciate their presence.

As Fraser went on about Ishiguro’s novel, it made me realize how cruel the world can be and yet we fail to see the cruelty clearly. The vague image of injustice leaves us wondering, what is justice? As Fraser wrote in her article observing Ishiguro’s novel, ‘the social order is unjust because it is exploitive’ (p.43) explained that the lower class of the society, in Plato’s words these are the people who lack special intelligence or spirit but are capable of manual labour work are always oppressed by the upper class. “They live, suffer and eventually die so that the originals can live longer, healthier lives. Treated as mere means to the originals’ ends, they are accorded no intrinsic value. Their needs and interests are nullified or at best subordinated to those of the originals. The clones, in other words, do not count as subjects of justice. Excluded from consideration and respect, they are not recognized as belonging to the same moral universe as the originals” - here the novel talked about the clones who are the oppressed group of society working and serving the ruling class for their entire lives. The most important part which Fraser portrayed very well is that the sufferer does not perceive the injustice happening to them, for them the situation is not unjust.

“This technique is like that in the famous anecdote of the frog which, when thrown into a pot of boiling water, immediately jumps out. If, however, it is placed into a pot of cold water that is warmed gradually, the frog remains calmly inside as it boils to death” (p.47) - the same is happening to the lower class. They know they are given what they deserve and kept in the dark, but when they realize that they deserve the same equal rights as the ruling class it is too late to protest or speak out of their situation. They accept their situation as normal and keep on the same track till their death. Therefore, it is safe to say injustice is incorporated in the society that we do not realize it until we face it.

Now if I go on about Fraser’s view, I must say I am confused with the theory because she did mention the ways we can achieve a just society but she missed the part where we are at a point where the injustice is institutionalized and the basic human rights is not ensured to everyone. I truly sympathize with Ishiguro’s novel but if we look closely no matter how much we try to ensure the basic human rights, there will always be a barrier between people who have more resources and thus enjoy their life and people who struggle to get the necessary resources to survive. Let us look at philosopher Karl Marx’s theory which to some extent matches Plato’s theory. For Marx there are basically two classes, namely the capitalists and the workers and Marx blames ‘capitalism’ for the inherently unfair system (Communist Manifesto, 1848). Therefore, the Marxist theory simply exerts that there should not be any classification and capitalism needs to end which will be replaced by a socialist system that would make everyone equal. Here again, as Marx suggested capitalism has to end, but how and is it actually possible to convert the whole economy system from a mix of capitalism and socialism to complete socialism is also a very important question. Taking notes from Rawls, ‘justice can be achieved by overcoming institutionalized injustice’ my question arises, how could we overcome something that has been there since forever? Fraser observing Ishiguro’s novel (Never Let Me Go, 2005) said, the oppressed group does not realize that they are being manipulated by the upper class because they consider this as normal and are used to it. Same way when we see a group of people suffering, unless and until they protest we will consider it to be fine with them.

That is where my confusion lies. As all the philosophers mentioned that to have a fair and just society the categorization of society needs to end, and there should be redistribution of resources to make everyone equal, as Fraser at the end of the article ‘On Justice’ mentioned that we should appreciate the oppressed groups’ needs, my question is how is it possible to redistribute the resources? How can we hear every voice that has been oppressed? Even if we do, how can we bring justice to everyone? There will always be a group of society who had better education, better living standard therefore working in a good position and thus have a better income and there will always be one group who did not obtain good education, chose to work in a moderate position therefore earns less.

Most countries are now a mixed economy of capitalism and socialism and to me it seems that achieving a pure socialist economy is not possible. Even though the main objective of socialist economy is to ensure equal distribution of resources and government is the primary employer therefore making sure everyone is employed, enjoying same quality of life - it may also lead to injustice; in a pure socialist economy, the citizens will not have freedom over anything, they will not have the chance to say no to the government. Every economy system has its advantages and disadvantages therefore, injustice will always be present and we can not expect a picture perfect society but let us agree on stepping up and working through the barriers to make a better world, to stand on our feet, protest when it's wrong, celebrate and support the right.

In conclusion, Fraser’s theory following Plato, Rawls and Ishiguro to have a just and fair society is somewhat restrictive too. No matter how much we tend to follow the eight principles by Fraser, we can not forget there will always be income inequality which is one of the central issues today. Even first world countries face the same issue. In my opinion, we can overcome injustice by action, letting the oppressed group know their rights, and giving them the opportunity to exercise their rights. We can open more organizations to help, raise awareness region by region and rather than making everyone equal, we can focus on ensuring everyone the basic human rights for example, right to a fair trial, freedom of expression. Although Fraser tried to uphold principles through which we can get closer to justice, this would only be theories if we do not work on them. We should remember, starting small leads to big change.

References:

Communist Manifesto, 1848 by Karl Marx

On Justice by Nancy Fraser.