New paper on Rawls and mutual recognition

Thom Brooks (Newcastle) has posted a new paper at SSRN:

"Reciprocity as Mutual Recognition"

Abstract:
"For Rawls, there is an important difference between competing forms of regimes and what he calls a ‘property-owning democracy’ and ‘liberal socialism’. This difference includes that only the latter best guarantees principles of justice and satisfy the criterion of reciprocity. In this article, I will focus on the importance of reciprocity for this account and what it reveals about the citizens found in property-owning democracies and liberal socialist regimes. These regimes do not merely correctly recognize and uphold the importance of central principles of justice, but they also correctly recognize each other in an identity-forming way. These citizens mutually recognize one another as free and equal, but also they identify with others in a common bond of citizenship. Rawlsian justice is more than about principles and reciprocity, but it is also about mutual recognition and shared identity. This becomes clearer when we look to the reasons why Rawls favours some regimes over others."

Thom Brooks is a Reader in Political and Legal Philosophy at Newcastle University. He is the author of "Hegel’s Political Philosophy" (Edinburgh University Press, 2007) and the co-editor (with Fabian Freyenhagen) of "The Legacy of John Rawls" (Continuum, 2005). He runs a blog: "The Brooks Blog".