Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Teubner on self-subversive justice



New article from
Gunther Teubner
(University of Frankfurt):


Self-Subversive Justice [free]
From "Modern Law Review", vol. 72 no. 1 (2009), pp. 1-23

From the abstract:

Dominated by social and legal philosophers, the present debate on justice oscillates between the poles of universality (Rawls, Habermas) and alterity (Levinas, Derrida). The article contrasts them with a third position, a sociological theory of justice in which justice appears as the 'contingency formula' of law (Luhmann). Here, the question of justice is no longer primarily a problem for philosophy but for concrete social practices in the changing self-descriptions of law. This opens perspectives for historical analyses to investigate into affinities of varieties of justice with changing social structures. More important is its potential to reformulate the concept of justice under present conditions which could give directives for legal theory and practice.

1 comment:

Annie Russell said...

I absolutely agree that the justice will only reach its optical functionalism when theory and practice work hand in hand- people in positions of power should realize that it is never and should not be one or the other!