Violence and Social Justice

Violence and Social Justice

Violence and Social Justice Vittorio Bufacchi University College, Cork

Vittorio Bufacchi 2007 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2007 978-0-230-55295-1 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1T 4LP. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The author has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published 2007 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010 Companies and representatives throughout the world PALGRAVE MACMILLAN is the global academic imprint of the Palgrave Macmillan division of St. Martin s Press, LLC and of Palgrave Macmillan Ltd. Macmillan is a registered trademark in the United States, United Kingdom and other countries. Palgrave is a registered trademark in the European Union and other countries. ISBN 978-0-230-55296-8 ISBN 978-0-230-24641-6 (ebook) DOI 10.1057/9780230246416 This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 09 08

For Brian Barry, Who taught me everything I know about political theory

Table of Contents Preface viii Introduction 1 1 The Concept of Violence 11 2 Violence and Integrity 29 3 Violence by Omission 48 4 Violence and Intentionality 66 5 Four Faces of Violence 88 6 Why is Violence Bad? 110 7 Violence and Social Justice 128 8 Exploitation, Injustice and Violence 145 9 Violence for Justice 164 Conclusion 187 Bibliography 200 Index 212 vii

Preface I first became aware of violence as a philosophical problem on 11th September 2001. At the time of the fatal attack I was working in my office making minor changes to my undergraduate course syllabus Introduction to Political Philosophy, a course I had been teaching for many years, and which I was going to teach again within a few weeks. There was nothing unique about my introductory course in political philosophy, being the standard mix-bag of key concepts and thinkers: utilitarianism; JS Mill; Rawls; Nozick; feminism; communitarianism; Marxism, and to finish it off, a large serving of democratic theory. By the end of the day, everything had changed. I soon came to the conclusion that I would be doing a disservice to my discipline, and to my students, if my course in political philosophy did not at least try to make sense of the tragic events of that day. In the end, I scrapped my course syllabus, and in 2001 2002 my Introduction to Political Philosophy was transformed overnight into a course on the ethics of violence. For better of worse, this is how I got involved in philosophical questions of violence. In preparing my new course syllabus I soon realised, to my surprise, that there was very little on violence written by philosophers in the last 30 years, and even less by political philosophers. Sociologists, psychologists, anthropologists, political scientists have all been writing about violence, for generations, but contemporary political philosophers seemed to be almost universally uninterested in the concept of violence. The aim of this book is to do my bit to counter this trend, and trigger some interest amongst political philosophers to questions of violence. I firmly believe that the two most pressing problems in political philosophy today are injustice and violence, furthermore that the concepts of social justice and violence have more in common than one may think. This book sets out to explore the common grounds between social justice and violence. Over the years I have incurred a number of debts to people and institutions who have generously given me their time and support. In 2004 2005 I was awarded a prestigious research fellowship from the viii

Preface ix Irish Research Council for Humanities and Social Science (IRCHSS), which gave me the opportunity to focus on my research for a year without having to do any teaching. Also, between 2002 and 2005 I was the beneficiary of two awards by the Research Fund of the College of Arts, Celtic Studies and Social Sciences at University College Cork. I m very thankful to both of these institutions, without their support this book would still be work-in-progress. Over the last 4 years I have tried out my ideas on violence and social justice on many unsuspecting undergraduate students at my university in Cork, who duly responded by highlighting the many shortcomings in my work. There are too many of them to mention individually, but I m very grateful to all of them for their patience while I was struggling to make sense of this difficult topic. In 2004 2005, thanks to the IRCHSS, I was able to spend two semesters as a Visiting Professor at two outstanding American universities: the University of Colorado in Boulder (August December 2005), and Dartmouth College (March May 2006). My colleagues and students at these two universities provided me with the ideal environment to conduct my research, a perfect mix of intellectual stimulation and sincere friendship. No one could ask for more. At Boulder I learned a great deal from Lisa Bates, Alison Jaggar, Claudia Mills, while at Dartmouth College Susan Brison, Anne Sa adah, Allan Stam, Ben Valentino, made the process of writing this book as enjoyable as it could possibly be. In the last 6 years I was also invited to present my ideas on violence at a number of universities. I am grateful to all the people who attended my talks at University College Dublin; National University of Ireland at Galway; London School of Economics; University of Colorado at Boulder; Dartmouth College; University of Kent; Williams College; University of Manchester. For constructive comments on earlier versions of some parts of this book, I wish to thank Federico Varese, Eve Garrard, Iseult Honohan, John Baker, Attracta Ingram, Norman Geras, Paul Kelly, Simon Kirchin, Felix Ó Murchadha. On a more personal level, there are a few individuals who must be singled out for their support over the years. This book is dedicated to Brian Barry, who I have known since 1988. He has been a model for me ever since I embarked in this profession, not only in terms of his scholarship (which I know I will never be able to equal), but

x Preface also for his commitment to political philosophy. For Brian, political philosophy has always been much more than an academic subject. What I have learned from him is that writing political philosophy can be a form of political activism. I have still much to learn about political philosophy, but the little I know, I owe to him. Anyone who knows Brian Barry will know that he is only one-half of the Brian-and-Anni team. As a graduate student, while struggling to keep up with Brian s outstanding intellect, Anni was always there to give me support, and to make me feel special. Over the years I have become as fond of Anni as I am of Brian, and what they have given me, in their different ways, cannot be put into words. I am grateful that they are part of my life. When I moved to Boulder for five months in 2004, my only contact in the city was an old friend of my wife, who lives in Boulder with her husband and three kids. Although I had only met them once before, I was welcomed in their family as a long-lost sibling. During my time in Boulder I ended up spending more time with this family than in my own flat. Their humanity and generosity is contagious, and they made my stay in Boulder a memorable and special experience. Beth Osnes is an incredible woman, being an outstanding mother, scholar, political activist and friend. Her husband, JP, and their three children (Peter, Melisande and Lerato) made me feel part of a family at a time when I was away from my own. If I have achieved as much as I did while in Colorado, it is in large part due to them. In the 6 years that it has taken me to write this book, I have benefited from the constant encouragement and love of my wife, Jools Gilson-Ellis, who gave me as much time and space and support as I needed to bring this project to conclusion. I know she will be glad to see this book in print, also because it may finally bring an end to what has been an obsession for me. My tendency to raise awkward issues about violence at breakfast (and lunch and dinner), on a daily basis, week after week, month after month, for 6 years, will not be missed in our home. The fact that she was prepared to put up with it for as long as she did suggests that love can be a powerful antidote against violence. Our daughter Natalie Maya came into our world less than 2 years ago, at a time when my book manuscript was at the make-it-or-break-it point. The desire to spend more time playing with her was the strongest incentive to bring this project to closure.

Preface xi I can only hope that my little girl will never experience the sort of injustice and violence that fills the pages of this book. Different chapters of this book draw in small part on the following publications: Violence by Omission, in F. Ó Murchadha (ed.) Violence, Victims, Justifications, London: Peter Lang, 2006, pp.95 114. Two Concepts of Violence, Political Studies Review, Vol. 3, April 2005, pp. 193 204. Why is Violence Bad? American Philosophical Quarterly, Vol. 41, No. 2, April 2004, pp. 169 180. The Injustice of Exploitation, Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy, Vol.5, No.1, 2002, pp.1 15. I wish to thank the editors and publishers of these journals and books for permission to use the relevant material in substantially modified forms here.