Martin O'Neill | University of York (original) (raw)
Books by Martin O'Neill
http://politybooks.com/bookdetail/?isbn=9781509539024&subject\_id=89, 2019
How can we build local communities that are prosperous, inclusive and sustainable? Is there a way... more How can we build local communities that are prosperous, inclusive and sustainable? Is there a way of promoting economic development that works for everyone?
Joe Guinan and Martin O’Neill argue that traditional economic strategies, driven by tax incentives and public-private partnerships, typically waste billions in order to subsidize the extraction of profit by footloose corporations with little benefit to the community. They outline an exciting alternative economic model which uses the power of democratic participation to drive equitable development and ensure that wealth is retained locally: Community Wealth Building. They show how this model can transform our economic system from the bottom up by creating a web of collaborative institutions, such as worker co-operatives, community land trusts, and public and community banks, all underpinned by local ‘anchor’ strategies.
This book is essential reading for everyone interested in building more equal, inclusive, and democratic societies, and for everyone who wants to explore how local political action can help to make that change happen.
Go here to order with 30% off: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/taxation-9780199609222?cc=gb&lang=en&promocode=AAFLYG6, 2018
Taxation: Philosophical Perspectives is the first edited collection devoted to addressing philoso... more Taxation: Philosophical Perspectives is the first edited collection devoted to addressing philosophical issues relating to tax. The tax system is central to the operation of states and to the ways in which states interact with individual citizens. Taxes are used by states to fund the provision of public goods and public services, to engage in direct or indirect forms of redistribution, and to mould the behaviour of individual citizens. As the chapters in this volume show, there are a number of pressing and significant philosophical issues relating to the tax system, and these issues often connect in fascinating ways with foundational questions regarding property rights, democracy, public justification, state neutrality, stability, political psychology, and a range of other issues. Many of these deep and challenging philosophical questions about tax have not always received as much sustained attention as they clearly merit. Our hope is that this book will advance the debate along a number of these philosophical fronts, and be a welcome spur to further work. The book’s aim of advancing the debate about tax in political philosophy has both general and more specific aspects, involving both overarching issues regarding the tax system as a whole and more specific issues relating to particular forms of tax policy. Serious philosophical work on the tax system requires an interdisciplinary approach—the discussion in this volume therefore includes contributions from a number of scholars whose expertise spans neighbouring disciplines, including political science, economics, public policy, and law.
Go here to order with 30% off: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/taxation-9780199609222?cc=gb&lang=en&promocode=AAFLYG6
Is social justice possible within capitalist societies? Or should progressives and egalitarians b... more Is social justice possible within capitalist societies? Or should progressives and egalitarians be looking for viable alternatives to free-market capitalism? John Rawls, one of the most influential political philosophers of the last century, advanced the view that social justice is indeed impossible within the constraints of the capitalist welfare state. Rawls believed that familiar capitalist societies in which a small minority holds a massively disproportionate share of wealth could not possibly be just. Instead, he argued that justice requires a different form of socioeconomic organization, one in which human and nonhuman capital is dispersed widely. He called it a "property-owning democracy".
Property-Owning Democracy: Rawls and Beyond presents the first extended treatment of Rawls' important ideas about the practical implementation of his theory of justice. Contributors to this volume approach Rawls' idea from a number of perspectives: its philosophical foundations, institutional implications, and possible connections to the future of left-of-center politics. Readings shed new light on a variety of topics, including the inequality of current wealth distribution in advanced capitalist societies; ways of funding a system of universal asset holdings; novel democratic forms of ownership; the link between asset ownership and human capital; and many others. Property-Owning Democracy: Rawls and Beyond offers thought-provoking insights into the concept of social justice in the 21st-century world.
Events by Martin O'Neill
A one-day conference on the theory and practice of progressive local and city government. In rec... more A one-day conference on the theory and practice of progressive local and city government.
In recent years, with the emergence of the Cleveland Model in the US and the Preston Model in the UK, there has been an enormous upsurge of interest in ways to make local economies more egalitarian and more democratic. Our one-day conference will bring together a range of academics, policy researchers and practitioners to discuss the theory and practice of building more equal and democratic economies at the local and city level, looking at issues including Community Wealth Building, remunicipalisation, and the role of local institutions in creating a more just society. Our keynote speaker is Professor Thad Williamson, who is both an academic political theorist at the University of Richmond, and was also from 2014-16 the founding director of the Office of Community Wealth Building in the City of Richmond, VA, the first institution of its kind in the United States.
Articles, Chapters, Papers, Interviews by Martin O'Neill
Analyse & Kritik (forthcoming), 2021
Thomas Piketty's Capital and Ideology constitutes a landmark achievement in furthering our unders... more Thomas Piketty's Capital and Ideology constitutes a landmark achievement in furthering our understanding of the history of inequality, and presents valuable proposals for constructing a future economic system that would allow us to transcend and move beyond contemporary forms of capitalism. This article discusses Piketty's conceptions of ideology, property, and "inequality regimes", and analyses his approach to social justice and its relation to the work of John Rawls. I examine how Piketty's proposals for 'participatory socialism' would function not only to redistribute income and wealth, but also to disperse economic power within society, and I discuss the complementary roles of redistribution and predistribution in his proposals, and Piketty's place in a tradition of egalitarian political economy associated with James Meade and Anthony Atkinson. Having elaborated on Piketty's account of the relationship between economic policy and ideational change, and his important idea of the "desacralization" of private property, I present "seven theses" on his proposals for participatory socialism, examining areas in which his approach could be enhanced or extended, so as to create a viable twenty-first century version of democratic socialism.
Philosophical Topics, 2021
This essay is concerned with the question of what kind of economic system would be needed in orde... more This essay is concerned with the question of what kind of economic system would be needed in order to realise Rawls’s principles of social justice. Hitherto, debates about ‘property-owning democracy’ and ‘liberal socialism’ have been overly schematic, in various respects, and have therefore missed some of the most important issues regarding the relationships between social justice and economic institutions and systems. What is at stake between broadly capitalist or socialist economic systems is not in fact a simple choice in a single dimension, but rather a range of choices across a range of different dimensions. This essay, then, has a dual objective: firstly, it aims to provide a richer account of this normative territory, while showing how issues of economic democracy, decommodification and the limits of markets, and the role of democratic economic planning, all raise questions of justice that are not well-captured by focussing only on questions of ownership. Secondly, it aims to show how the case for democratic socialism can be developed from Rawlsian foundations, in a way that is sensitive to the normative affinities between Rawlsian liberal egalitarianism and themes in socialist political thought, and which attends carefully to the different kinds of institutional elements which a stable, just, and democratic society would require. Taking these aims together, the hope is that we can move onwards to a richer debate about the ways in which the realisation of democratic socialist institutions may be seen as a requirement of social justice.
![Research paper thumbnail of "Power, Predistribution, and Social Justice," forthcoming in Philosophy (2020) [pre-publication version]](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/60918855/thumbnails/1.jpg)
](Philosophy, 2020
The idea of predistribution has the potential to offer a valuable and distinctive approach to pol... more The idea of predistribution has the potential to offer a valuable and distinctive approach to political philosophers, political scientists, and economists, in thinking about social justice and the creation of more egalitarian economies. It is also an idea that has drawn the interest of politicians of the left and centre-left, promising an alternative to traditional forms of social democracy. But the idea of predistribution is not well understood, and stands in need of elucidation. This article explores ways of drawing the conceptual and normative distinction between predistribution and redistribution, examining those general categories when considering the roles of public services and fiscal transfers, and looking at the ways in which government policies can empower and disempower different individuals and groups within the economy. This article argues that the most initially plausible and common-sensical ways of drawing the distinction between predistributive and redistributive public policies collapse when put under analytical pressure. It concludes that the distinction between predistribution and redistribution is best seen in terms of the aims or effects of policies rather than a deeper division of policy types, and argues that, once seen in those terms, predistribution is a central concern of social justice.
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2019
In what follows, we are concerned to present the main features of socialism, both as a critique ... more In what follows, we are concerned to present the main features of socialism, both as a critique of capitalism, and as a proposal for its replacement. Our focus is predominantly on literature written within a philosophical idiom, focusing in particular on philosophical writing on socialism produced during the past forty-or-so years. Furthermore, our discussion concentrates on the normative contrast between socialism and capitalism as economic systems. Both socialism and capitalism grant workers legal control of their labor power, but socialism, unlike capitalism, requires that the bulk of the means of production workers use to yield goods and services be under the effective control of workers themselves, rather than in the hands of the members of a different, capitalist class under whose direction they must toil. As we will explain below, this contrast has been articulated further in different ways, and socialists have not only made distinctive claims regarding economic organization but also regarding the processes of transformation fulfilling them and the principles and ideals orienting their justification (including, as we will see, certain understandings of freedom, equality, solidarity, and democracy).
International Journal of Public Policy, 2019
James Meade argued that public ownership of productive assets should have a central role in a 'li... more James Meade argued that public ownership of productive assets should have a central role in a 'liberal socialist' economy. While somewhat sceptical of the state seeking to run specific firms or industries, Meade argued that the state should own a significant share of a society's productive assets, using the return on the assets to promote a more equal distribution of income (e.g., through payment of a universal social dividend). This paper traces the development of Meade's thinking around this citizens' trust concept; explores its influence in UK policy discussions; and makes the case for the continuing relevance of the proposal in response to contemporary economic developments.
Renewal, Jul 2019
The Mondragon Corporation is the largest and most successful worker-owned cooperative group in th... more The Mondragon Corporation is the largest and most successful worker-owned cooperative group in the world. Based in the Baque Country, with its headquarters in the town of Mondragón, the Mondragon Corporation is a network of over one hundred constituent worker cooperatives, working in a range of sectors including industrial production, agriculture, and retail, and also including both a bank and a university. It is in the ten largest companies in Spain, with over 67,000 workers in its constituent cooperatives, and is the largest business group within the Basque Country. Ander Etxberria is Mondragon's director of "cooperative dissemination": the person charged with explaining the values and operating principles of Mondragon to those outside the organisation. He talks here with Renewal commissioning editor Martin O'Neill about how Mondragon works, the values it aims to embody, and what lessons can be learned from its example for the development of cooperatives elsewhere in the world.
Renewal: a Journal of Social Democracy, 2019
Fernando Atria, Professor of Law at the Universidad de Chile, came to national prominence in Chil... more Fernando Atria, Professor of Law at the Universidad de Chile, came to national prominence in Chile during the 2011 Student Movement, as his ideas on moving beyond a market society were taken up by the movement's participants. In recent years he has been a leading figure on the left of the Chilean Socialist Party, looking to reanimate the radical tradition of Salvador Allende within the party, and was the candidate of the left for the party's nomination at the most recent presidential election. Here Professor Atria talks with Renewal Commissioning Editor Martin O'Neill about overcoming the legacy of neoliberalism in Chile, and the hope for future political and economic transformation in the country.
Renewal, 2019
Andrés Lajous, the Secretary for Mobility in the city governmnent of Mexico City, in the newly el... more Andrés Lajous, the Secretary for Mobility in the city governmnent of Mexico City, in the newly elected administration of mayor Claudia Sheinbaum, has one of the most challenging jobs in city government anywhere in the world. Lajous, who comes to his role overseeing the transport system of CDMX via academia, has a background in urban planning and political sociology, and is one of a new generation of political figures brought to prominence through the political sea-change of 2018 in Mexico. A member of the political collective Democracia Deliberada -- a group whose self-description is as a current in search of the lost left ("corriente política en busqueda de la izquierda perdida"), Andrés Lajous now has overall responsibility for the transport system of a city of more than 22 million people, where more than 34 million journeys are made every day. Here he talks with Renewal commissioning editor Martin O'Neill about the role of transport policy in creating more just societies, strategies for overcoming inequalities of wealth and power, and the emergence of a new left populism within Mexico.
Renewal: a Journal of Social Democracy, 2019
The Mexican elections of 2018 saw an unprecedented victory for the left, with the election of And... more The Mexican elections of 2018 saw an unprecedented victory for the left, with the election of Andres Manuel López Obrador as President (winning 31 of 32 Mexican states), and with his MORENA party [the Movimiento Regeneración Nacional] sweeping away the old parties of the PRI and PAN, and achieving an absolute majority in the Chamber of Deputies. At a time when the left has been on the retreat in many parts of Latin America, AMLO's victory represents (to take the English-language title of his 2018 book) a New Hope for Mexico, and the chance to reconfigure a political society blighted by corruption and inequality. On a recent trip to CDMX, Renewal commissioning editor Martin O'Neill spoke with Sergio Silva-Castañeda about the ambitions and prospects of the new Mexican government. Sergio Silva-Castañeda was until 2018 a professor of international studies at ITAM in Mexico City, and now serves as a member of the new administration, as economic adviser to Graciela Márquez Colín, Secretary for the Economy in the new government.
IPPR Progressive Review, 2019
For the first time in a generation, a radical agenda for systemic economic transformation is taki... more For the first time in a generation, a radical agenda for systemic economic transformation is taking shape on the British left at the level of both ideas and practice. Offering real, on-the-ground solutions to communities and regions battered by successive waves of disinvestment, deindustrialisation, displacement, and disempowerment, it is based on a new configuration of institutions and approaches capable of producing more sustainable, lasting, and democratic outcomes. Rooted in place-based economics, democratic participation and control, and mobilising the untapped power of the local public sector, this emerging new political economy is also striking for being a transatlantic agenda – one that can find, and is increasingly finding, powerful application in both the UK under a number of ambitious local authorities, and in the US via the emboldened left politics of Bernie Sanders, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and the Justice Democrats.
IPPR Progressive Review, 2019
For the first time in a generation a radical agenda for systemic economic transformation is takin... more For the first time in a generation a radical agenda for systemic economic transformation is taking shape on the British Left at the level of both ideas and practice. Offering real, on-the-ground solutions to communities and regions battered by successive waves of disinvestment, deindustrialisation, displacement, and disempowerment, it is based on a new configuration of institutions and approaches capable of producing more sustainable, lasting, and democratic outcomes. Rooted in place-based economics, democratic participation and control, and mobilising the untapped power of the local public sector, this emerging new political economy is also striking for being a transatlantic agenda—one that can find and is increasingly finding powerful application in both the United Kingdom under ambitious local authorities, and in the United States via the emboldened left politics of Bernie Sanders, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and the Justice Democrats.
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2018
This article describes what philosophical analysis can say about money and finance. It is divided... more This article describes what philosophical analysis can say about money and finance. It is divided into five parts that respectively concern (1) what money and finance really are (metaphysics), (2) how knowledge about financial matters is or should be formed (epistemology), (3) the merits and challenges of financial economics (philosophy of science), (4) the many ethical issues related to money and finance (ethics), and (5) the relationship between finance and politics (political philosophy).
International Journal of Public Policy, 2019
Arguments for public ownership come in many different forms. Some appeal to the potential efficie... more Arguments for public ownership come in many different forms. Some appeal to the potential efficiency gains if a specific firm or industry is in public hands. Others appeal to the distributional benefits of public ownership. One version of this distributional argument is that if assets are publicly-owned then the return to these assets, including capital gains, can be more readily shared with the citizenry at large rather than flowing to a privileged few. In this article we explore the way this argument is developed in the work of the Nobel Laureate economist James Meade and sketch a case for the continuing relevance of Meade’s ideas.
Forthcoming in Hugh Collins, Gillian Lester, and Virginia Mantouvalou, eds. Philosophical Foundat... more Forthcoming in Hugh Collins, Gillian Lester, and Virginia Mantouvalou, eds. Philosophical Foundations of Labour Law, (OUP: 2018). In this chapter, we revisit the issue of how trade unions potentially contribute to political equality. We argue that the state’s adoption of a promotive stance towards trade unionism and collective bargaining should be seen, in part, as a feature of a stable democratic polity, one that is more internally resilient to oligarchical pressures. In this way, we argue that basic questions of labour law, which affect trade unions’ formation and operation, need to be viewed from the standpoint of democratic theory and the challenge of preventing a drift of representative institutions towards oligarchy.
Renewal, 2018
Ted Howard is Co-Founder and President of the Democracy Collaborative, a Washington, D.C.-based ‘... more Ted Howard is Co-Founder and President of the Democracy Collaborative, a Washington, D.C.-based ‘think-do tank’ that develops and promotes ideas for a more democratic economy. He has been one of the main architects of the ‘Cleveland Model’ of inclusive local development in Ohio, which has served as an important inspiration for the development of the ‘Preston Model’ in the UK. Howard is now an adviser to the Labour Party’s new Community Wealth Building Unit, which is
looking to extend the lessons of Cleveland and Preston throughout the country. Martin O’Neill of Renewal caught up with Ted Howard in Preston, where he was participating in the conference that launched Labour’s national Community Wealth Building initiative.
Next System Project, 2018
An interview with Zitto Kabwe, Tanzanian opposition MP and leader of the democratic socialist ACT... more An interview with Zitto Kabwe, Tanzanian opposition MP and leader of the democratic socialist ACT-Wazalendo Party, by Martin O’Neill and Joe Guinan. Originally published in two parts by Renewal. This version published as one combined text by the Next System Project of the Democracy Collaborative.
http://politybooks.com/bookdetail/?isbn=9781509539024&subject\_id=89, 2019
How can we build local communities that are prosperous, inclusive and sustainable? Is there a way... more How can we build local communities that are prosperous, inclusive and sustainable? Is there a way of promoting economic development that works for everyone?
Joe Guinan and Martin O’Neill argue that traditional economic strategies, driven by tax incentives and public-private partnerships, typically waste billions in order to subsidize the extraction of profit by footloose corporations with little benefit to the community. They outline an exciting alternative economic model which uses the power of democratic participation to drive equitable development and ensure that wealth is retained locally: Community Wealth Building. They show how this model can transform our economic system from the bottom up by creating a web of collaborative institutions, such as worker co-operatives, community land trusts, and public and community banks, all underpinned by local ‘anchor’ strategies.
This book is essential reading for everyone interested in building more equal, inclusive, and democratic societies, and for everyone who wants to explore how local political action can help to make that change happen.
Go here to order with 30% off: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/taxation-9780199609222?cc=gb&lang=en&promocode=AAFLYG6, 2018
Taxation: Philosophical Perspectives is the first edited collection devoted to addressing philoso... more Taxation: Philosophical Perspectives is the first edited collection devoted to addressing philosophical issues relating to tax. The tax system is central to the operation of states and to the ways in which states interact with individual citizens. Taxes are used by states to fund the provision of public goods and public services, to engage in direct or indirect forms of redistribution, and to mould the behaviour of individual citizens. As the chapters in this volume show, there are a number of pressing and significant philosophical issues relating to the tax system, and these issues often connect in fascinating ways with foundational questions regarding property rights, democracy, public justification, state neutrality, stability, political psychology, and a range of other issues. Many of these deep and challenging philosophical questions about tax have not always received as much sustained attention as they clearly merit. Our hope is that this book will advance the debate along a number of these philosophical fronts, and be a welcome spur to further work. The book’s aim of advancing the debate about tax in political philosophy has both general and more specific aspects, involving both overarching issues regarding the tax system as a whole and more specific issues relating to particular forms of tax policy. Serious philosophical work on the tax system requires an interdisciplinary approach—the discussion in this volume therefore includes contributions from a number of scholars whose expertise spans neighbouring disciplines, including political science, economics, public policy, and law.
Go here to order with 30% off: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/taxation-9780199609222?cc=gb&lang=en&promocode=AAFLYG6
Is social justice possible within capitalist societies? Or should progressives and egalitarians b... more Is social justice possible within capitalist societies? Or should progressives and egalitarians be looking for viable alternatives to free-market capitalism? John Rawls, one of the most influential political philosophers of the last century, advanced the view that social justice is indeed impossible within the constraints of the capitalist welfare state. Rawls believed that familiar capitalist societies in which a small minority holds a massively disproportionate share of wealth could not possibly be just. Instead, he argued that justice requires a different form of socioeconomic organization, one in which human and nonhuman capital is dispersed widely. He called it a "property-owning democracy".
Property-Owning Democracy: Rawls and Beyond presents the first extended treatment of Rawls' important ideas about the practical implementation of his theory of justice. Contributors to this volume approach Rawls' idea from a number of perspectives: its philosophical foundations, institutional implications, and possible connections to the future of left-of-center politics. Readings shed new light on a variety of topics, including the inequality of current wealth distribution in advanced capitalist societies; ways of funding a system of universal asset holdings; novel democratic forms of ownership; the link between asset ownership and human capital; and many others. Property-Owning Democracy: Rawls and Beyond offers thought-provoking insights into the concept of social justice in the 21st-century world.
A one-day conference on the theory and practice of progressive local and city government. In rec... more A one-day conference on the theory and practice of progressive local and city government.
In recent years, with the emergence of the Cleveland Model in the US and the Preston Model in the UK, there has been an enormous upsurge of interest in ways to make local economies more egalitarian and more democratic. Our one-day conference will bring together a range of academics, policy researchers and practitioners to discuss the theory and practice of building more equal and democratic economies at the local and city level, looking at issues including Community Wealth Building, remunicipalisation, and the role of local institutions in creating a more just society. Our keynote speaker is Professor Thad Williamson, who is both an academic political theorist at the University of Richmond, and was also from 2014-16 the founding director of the Office of Community Wealth Building in the City of Richmond, VA, the first institution of its kind in the United States.
Analyse & Kritik (forthcoming), 2021
Thomas Piketty's Capital and Ideology constitutes a landmark achievement in furthering our unders... more Thomas Piketty's Capital and Ideology constitutes a landmark achievement in furthering our understanding of the history of inequality, and presents valuable proposals for constructing a future economic system that would allow us to transcend and move beyond contemporary forms of capitalism. This article discusses Piketty's conceptions of ideology, property, and "inequality regimes", and analyses his approach to social justice and its relation to the work of John Rawls. I examine how Piketty's proposals for 'participatory socialism' would function not only to redistribute income and wealth, but also to disperse economic power within society, and I discuss the complementary roles of redistribution and predistribution in his proposals, and Piketty's place in a tradition of egalitarian political economy associated with James Meade and Anthony Atkinson. Having elaborated on Piketty's account of the relationship between economic policy and ideational change, and his important idea of the "desacralization" of private property, I present "seven theses" on his proposals for participatory socialism, examining areas in which his approach could be enhanced or extended, so as to create a viable twenty-first century version of democratic socialism.
Philosophical Topics, 2021
This essay is concerned with the question of what kind of economic system would be needed in orde... more This essay is concerned with the question of what kind of economic system would be needed in order to realise Rawls’s principles of social justice. Hitherto, debates about ‘property-owning democracy’ and ‘liberal socialism’ have been overly schematic, in various respects, and have therefore missed some of the most important issues regarding the relationships between social justice and economic institutions and systems. What is at stake between broadly capitalist or socialist economic systems is not in fact a simple choice in a single dimension, but rather a range of choices across a range of different dimensions. This essay, then, has a dual objective: firstly, it aims to provide a richer account of this normative territory, while showing how issues of economic democracy, decommodification and the limits of markets, and the role of democratic economic planning, all raise questions of justice that are not well-captured by focussing only on questions of ownership. Secondly, it aims to show how the case for democratic socialism can be developed from Rawlsian foundations, in a way that is sensitive to the normative affinities between Rawlsian liberal egalitarianism and themes in socialist political thought, and which attends carefully to the different kinds of institutional elements which a stable, just, and democratic society would require. Taking these aims together, the hope is that we can move onwards to a richer debate about the ways in which the realisation of democratic socialist institutions may be seen as a requirement of social justice.
Philosophy, 2020
The idea of predistribution has the potential to offer a valuable and distinctive approach to pol... more The idea of predistribution has the potential to offer a valuable and distinctive approach to political philosophers, political scientists, and economists, in thinking about social justice and the creation of more egalitarian economies. It is also an idea that has drawn the interest of politicians of the left and centre-left, promising an alternative to traditional forms of social democracy. But the idea of predistribution is not well understood, and stands in need of elucidation. This article explores ways of drawing the conceptual and normative distinction between predistribution and redistribution, examining those general categories when considering the roles of public services and fiscal transfers, and looking at the ways in which government policies can empower and disempower different individuals and groups within the economy. This article argues that the most initially plausible and common-sensical ways of drawing the distinction between predistributive and redistributive public policies collapse when put under analytical pressure. It concludes that the distinction between predistribution and redistribution is best seen in terms of the aims or effects of policies rather than a deeper division of policy types, and argues that, once seen in those terms, predistribution is a central concern of social justice.
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2019
In what follows, we are concerned to present the main features of socialism, both as a critique ... more In what follows, we are concerned to present the main features of socialism, both as a critique of capitalism, and as a proposal for its replacement. Our focus is predominantly on literature written within a philosophical idiom, focusing in particular on philosophical writing on socialism produced during the past forty-or-so years. Furthermore, our discussion concentrates on the normative contrast between socialism and capitalism as economic systems. Both socialism and capitalism grant workers legal control of their labor power, but socialism, unlike capitalism, requires that the bulk of the means of production workers use to yield goods and services be under the effective control of workers themselves, rather than in the hands of the members of a different, capitalist class under whose direction they must toil. As we will explain below, this contrast has been articulated further in different ways, and socialists have not only made distinctive claims regarding economic organization but also regarding the processes of transformation fulfilling them and the principles and ideals orienting their justification (including, as we will see, certain understandings of freedom, equality, solidarity, and democracy).
International Journal of Public Policy, 2019
James Meade argued that public ownership of productive assets should have a central role in a 'li... more James Meade argued that public ownership of productive assets should have a central role in a 'liberal socialist' economy. While somewhat sceptical of the state seeking to run specific firms or industries, Meade argued that the state should own a significant share of a society's productive assets, using the return on the assets to promote a more equal distribution of income (e.g., through payment of a universal social dividend). This paper traces the development of Meade's thinking around this citizens' trust concept; explores its influence in UK policy discussions; and makes the case for the continuing relevance of the proposal in response to contemporary economic developments.
Renewal, Jul 2019
The Mondragon Corporation is the largest and most successful worker-owned cooperative group in th... more The Mondragon Corporation is the largest and most successful worker-owned cooperative group in the world. Based in the Baque Country, with its headquarters in the town of Mondragón, the Mondragon Corporation is a network of over one hundred constituent worker cooperatives, working in a range of sectors including industrial production, agriculture, and retail, and also including both a bank and a university. It is in the ten largest companies in Spain, with over 67,000 workers in its constituent cooperatives, and is the largest business group within the Basque Country. Ander Etxberria is Mondragon's director of "cooperative dissemination": the person charged with explaining the values and operating principles of Mondragon to those outside the organisation. He talks here with Renewal commissioning editor Martin O'Neill about how Mondragon works, the values it aims to embody, and what lessons can be learned from its example for the development of cooperatives elsewhere in the world.
Renewal: a Journal of Social Democracy, 2019
Fernando Atria, Professor of Law at the Universidad de Chile, came to national prominence in Chil... more Fernando Atria, Professor of Law at the Universidad de Chile, came to national prominence in Chile during the 2011 Student Movement, as his ideas on moving beyond a market society were taken up by the movement's participants. In recent years he has been a leading figure on the left of the Chilean Socialist Party, looking to reanimate the radical tradition of Salvador Allende within the party, and was the candidate of the left for the party's nomination at the most recent presidential election. Here Professor Atria talks with Renewal Commissioning Editor Martin O'Neill about overcoming the legacy of neoliberalism in Chile, and the hope for future political and economic transformation in the country.
Renewal, 2019
Andrés Lajous, the Secretary for Mobility in the city governmnent of Mexico City, in the newly el... more Andrés Lajous, the Secretary for Mobility in the city governmnent of Mexico City, in the newly elected administration of mayor Claudia Sheinbaum, has one of the most challenging jobs in city government anywhere in the world. Lajous, who comes to his role overseeing the transport system of CDMX via academia, has a background in urban planning and political sociology, and is one of a new generation of political figures brought to prominence through the political sea-change of 2018 in Mexico. A member of the political collective Democracia Deliberada -- a group whose self-description is as a current in search of the lost left ("corriente política en busqueda de la izquierda perdida"), Andrés Lajous now has overall responsibility for the transport system of a city of more than 22 million people, where more than 34 million journeys are made every day. Here he talks with Renewal commissioning editor Martin O'Neill about the role of transport policy in creating more just societies, strategies for overcoming inequalities of wealth and power, and the emergence of a new left populism within Mexico.
Renewal: a Journal of Social Democracy, 2019
The Mexican elections of 2018 saw an unprecedented victory for the left, with the election of And... more The Mexican elections of 2018 saw an unprecedented victory for the left, with the election of Andres Manuel López Obrador as President (winning 31 of 32 Mexican states), and with his MORENA party [the Movimiento Regeneración Nacional] sweeping away the old parties of the PRI and PAN, and achieving an absolute majority in the Chamber of Deputies. At a time when the left has been on the retreat in many parts of Latin America, AMLO's victory represents (to take the English-language title of his 2018 book) a New Hope for Mexico, and the chance to reconfigure a political society blighted by corruption and inequality. On a recent trip to CDMX, Renewal commissioning editor Martin O'Neill spoke with Sergio Silva-Castañeda about the ambitions and prospects of the new Mexican government. Sergio Silva-Castañeda was until 2018 a professor of international studies at ITAM in Mexico City, and now serves as a member of the new administration, as economic adviser to Graciela Márquez Colín, Secretary for the Economy in the new government.
IPPR Progressive Review, 2019
For the first time in a generation, a radical agenda for systemic economic transformation is taki... more For the first time in a generation, a radical agenda for systemic economic transformation is taking shape on the British left at the level of both ideas and practice. Offering real, on-the-ground solutions to communities and regions battered by successive waves of disinvestment, deindustrialisation, displacement, and disempowerment, it is based on a new configuration of institutions and approaches capable of producing more sustainable, lasting, and democratic outcomes. Rooted in place-based economics, democratic participation and control, and mobilising the untapped power of the local public sector, this emerging new political economy is also striking for being a transatlantic agenda – one that can find, and is increasingly finding, powerful application in both the UK under a number of ambitious local authorities, and in the US via the emboldened left politics of Bernie Sanders, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and the Justice Democrats.
IPPR Progressive Review, 2019
For the first time in a generation a radical agenda for systemic economic transformation is takin... more For the first time in a generation a radical agenda for systemic economic transformation is taking shape on the British Left at the level of both ideas and practice. Offering real, on-the-ground solutions to communities and regions battered by successive waves of disinvestment, deindustrialisation, displacement, and disempowerment, it is based on a new configuration of institutions and approaches capable of producing more sustainable, lasting, and democratic outcomes. Rooted in place-based economics, democratic participation and control, and mobilising the untapped power of the local public sector, this emerging new political economy is also striking for being a transatlantic agenda—one that can find and is increasingly finding powerful application in both the United Kingdom under ambitious local authorities, and in the United States via the emboldened left politics of Bernie Sanders, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and the Justice Democrats.
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2018
This article describes what philosophical analysis can say about money and finance. It is divided... more This article describes what philosophical analysis can say about money and finance. It is divided into five parts that respectively concern (1) what money and finance really are (metaphysics), (2) how knowledge about financial matters is or should be formed (epistemology), (3) the merits and challenges of financial economics (philosophy of science), (4) the many ethical issues related to money and finance (ethics), and (5) the relationship between finance and politics (political philosophy).
International Journal of Public Policy, 2019
Arguments for public ownership come in many different forms. Some appeal to the potential efficie... more Arguments for public ownership come in many different forms. Some appeal to the potential efficiency gains if a specific firm or industry is in public hands. Others appeal to the distributional benefits of public ownership. One version of this distributional argument is that if assets are publicly-owned then the return to these assets, including capital gains, can be more readily shared with the citizenry at large rather than flowing to a privileged few. In this article we explore the way this argument is developed in the work of the Nobel Laureate economist James Meade and sketch a case for the continuing relevance of Meade’s ideas.
Forthcoming in Hugh Collins, Gillian Lester, and Virginia Mantouvalou, eds. Philosophical Foundat... more Forthcoming in Hugh Collins, Gillian Lester, and Virginia Mantouvalou, eds. Philosophical Foundations of Labour Law, (OUP: 2018). In this chapter, we revisit the issue of how trade unions potentially contribute to political equality. We argue that the state’s adoption of a promotive stance towards trade unionism and collective bargaining should be seen, in part, as a feature of a stable democratic polity, one that is more internally resilient to oligarchical pressures. In this way, we argue that basic questions of labour law, which affect trade unions’ formation and operation, need to be viewed from the standpoint of democratic theory and the challenge of preventing a drift of representative institutions towards oligarchy.
Renewal, 2018
Ted Howard is Co-Founder and President of the Democracy Collaborative, a Washington, D.C.-based ‘... more Ted Howard is Co-Founder and President of the Democracy Collaborative, a Washington, D.C.-based ‘think-do tank’ that develops and promotes ideas for a more democratic economy. He has been one of the main architects of the ‘Cleveland Model’ of inclusive local development in Ohio, which has served as an important inspiration for the development of the ‘Preston Model’ in the UK. Howard is now an adviser to the Labour Party’s new Community Wealth Building Unit, which is
looking to extend the lessons of Cleveland and Preston throughout the country. Martin O’Neill of Renewal caught up with Ted Howard in Preston, where he was participating in the conference that launched Labour’s national Community Wealth Building initiative.
Next System Project, 2018
An interview with Zitto Kabwe, Tanzanian opposition MP and leader of the democratic socialist ACT... more An interview with Zitto Kabwe, Tanzanian opposition MP and leader of the democratic socialist ACT-Wazalendo Party, by Martin O’Neill and Joe Guinan. Originally published in two parts by Renewal. This version published as one combined text by the Next System Project of the Democracy Collaborative.
Go here to order with 30% off: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/taxation-9780199609222?cc=gb&lang=en&promocode=AAFLYG6, 2018
Taxation: Philosophical Perspectives is the first edited collection devoted to addressing philoso... more Taxation: Philosophical Perspectives is the first edited collection devoted to addressing philosophical issues relating to tax. The tax system is central to the operation of states and to the ways in which states interact with individual citizens. Taxes are used by states to fund the provision of public goods and public services, to engage in direct or indirect forms of redistribution, and to mould the behaviour of individual citizens. As the chapters in this volume show, there are a number of pressing and significant philosophical issues relating to the tax system, and these issues often connect in fascinating ways with foundational questions regarding property rights, democracy, public justification, state neutrality, stability, political psychology, and a range of other issues. Many of these deep and challenging philosophical questions about tax have not always received as much sustained attention as they clearly merit. Our hope is that this book will advance the debate along a number of these philosophical fronts, and be a welcome spur to further work. The book’s aim of advancing the debate about tax in political philosophy has both general and more specific aspects, involving both overarching issues regarding the tax system as a whole and more specific issues relating to particular forms of tax policy. Serious philosophical work on the tax system requires an interdisciplinary approach—the discussion in this volume therefore includes contributions from a number of scholars whose expertise spans neighbouring disciplines, including political science, economics, public policy, and law.
Go here to order with 30% off: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/taxation-9780199609222?cc=gb&lang=en&promocode=AAFLYG6
Go here to order with 30% off: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/taxation-9780199609222?cc=gb&lang=en&promocode=AAFLYG6, 2018
The tax system is central to the operation of states and to the ways in which states interact wit... more The tax system is central to the operation of states and to the ways in which states interact with individual citizens. Taxes are used by states to fund the provision of public goods and public services, to engage in direct or indirect forms of redistribution, and to mould the behaviour of individual citizens through incentivizing certain activities (such as charitable giving, or investment in new technology) through tax breaks, or to dissuade people from engaging in other activities by means of Pigouvian taxes, including ‘sin taxes’ (such as those associated with the consumption of alcohol or tobacco). Given the absolute centrality of the tax system to some of the main functions of the state, the analysis of conceptual and normative issues relating to taxation should be at the heart of political philosophy. The shape of the tax system is
an unavoidably and irreducibly normative matter, and one which implicates a number of core concerns of social justice.² When we think about issues of social justice in practice, we cannot avoid thinking at the same time about tax.
Given that taxation is one of the most significant mechanisms for interaction between states and individual citizens, it is perhaps surprising that there has not been as much work on taxation within political philosophy as one might have expected. This is not, of course, to say that political philosophy has been silent about tax. But as the chapters in this volume show, there are a number of pressing and significant
philosophical issues relating to the tax system, and these issues often connect in fascinating ways with foundational questions regarding property rights, democracy, public justification, state neutrality, stability, political psychology, and a range of other issues. Many of these deep and fascinating philosophical questions about tax have not always received as much sustained attention as they clearly merit. Our hope
is that this book will advance the debate along a number of these philosophical fronts, and be a welcome spur to further work.
Go here to order with 30% off: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/taxation-9780199609222?cc=gb&lang=en&promocode=AAFLYG6
Renewal, 2018
The Labour leadership is putting together the elements of a new twenty-first century socialist po... more The Labour leadership is putting together the elements of a new twenty-first century socialist political economy with a direct focus on ownership,
control, democracy, and participation. Rolled out across the entire economy, it could displace traditional corporate and financial power in Britain.
Journal of Political Philosophy, 2017
Thomas Piketty’s Capital in the Twenty-First Century has, in the words of Paul Krugman, “transfor... more Thomas Piketty’s Capital in the Twenty-First Century has, in the words of Paul Krugman, “transformed our economic discourse” about wealth and inequality. It is difficult to think of a recent work of social science that has received as much attention, or had so much impact, both within academic debates and in terms of broader public discourse. Piketty’s work clearly carries weighty implications not only for economics, but also for many neighboring disciplines, among which we can count political philosophy. Now that the dust has settled after the initial round of scholarly engagement with Piketty’s book, and after Piketty himself has had the opportunity to refine and finesse the central points of his analysis in a slew of post-Capital writings, the time is ripe for an assessment of the book’s full significance from the standpoint of political philosophy, and to consider its full implications in terms of how we should think about public policy.
In this article I examine the main conceptual, historical, and normative claims of Piketty’s Capital, and show how the book provides an important impetus towards an egalitarian research agenda in political philosophy and public policy. I begin in sections II through IV by considering Piketty’s main conceptual and historical claims about the dynamics of inequality. In section V, I consider the normative commitments of Piketty’s account of inequality, look at the (partially submerged or implicit) ways in which Capital in the Twenty-First Century can itself be read as a work of political philosophy, and relate Piketty’s egalitarianism to philosophical accounts of the badness of socio-economic inequality. Section VI addresses some aspects of the general significance of Capital for the discipline of political philosophy. Finally, sections VII and VIII consider a range of strategies for egalitarian public policy, showing the role of political philosophy in laying out the space of possible alternative approaches, and maps an agenda for future research.
This module will provide a close reading of some of the key texts from the early writings of Karl... more This module will provide a close reading of some of the key texts from the early writings of Karl Marx, examining some of the most important elements of Marx’s contribution to political philosophy, up to the publication of The Communist Manifesto in 1848. We will examine a number of aspects of Marx’s thought, including some of the main features of Marx’s relationship to Hegel; Marx’s account of alienation and his critique of capitalism; his critique of bourgeois standards of justice, and the relationship between Marx’s political philosophy and analytic political philosophy; Marx’s views on exploitation and the relation between his political philosophy and his understanding of the dynamics of capitalism; and Marx’s advocacy of a communist society and his account of the transition from capitalism to communism.
A 15 minute "YorkTalk", given in January 2016, investigating the idea that market reforms could b... more A 15 minute "YorkTalk", given in January 2016, investigating the idea that market reforms could be used to encourage a more equal distribution of economic power and rewards.
T. M. Scanlon is one of the most significant moral and political philosophers of the past thirty ... more T. M. Scanlon is one of the most significant moral and political philosophers of the past thirty years. His development of contractualism as a general view explaining the content of "what we owe to each other" represents one of the great systematic projects in recent moral and political philosophy
This conference took advantage of Scanlon's presence in the UK to give the 2009 Locke Lectures at the University of Oxford, in order to bring him to Manchester for an intensive two-day exploration of themes from his political philosophy.
Although Scanlon's contractualist moral philosophy has received a significant degree of critical attention, there has perhaps not been the same degree of attention given to the distinctively political aspects or implications of Scanlon's project. The conference aimed to remedy this gap through a detailed exploration both of Scanlon's work in political philosophy, and of the implications for political philosophy of other aspects of Scanlon's work on topics in moral philosophy.
Full program online here:
http://bit.ly/scanlonconference2009
Now that Corbyn has risen to the party’s leadership, he has to lead. What can we expect? Corbyn ... more Now that Corbyn has risen to the party’s leadership, he has to lead. What can we expect?
Corbyn has been a maverick, oppositional figure all his political life, and the experience of dealmaking, compromise and accepting responsibility will be a new one. His difficulty will be confounded by the fact that his support is outside Parliament, with many of his fellow MPs taking a less than enthusiastic view of his socialist revivalism. The job will not be easy.
Nevertheless, Corbyn’s leadership will expand the ideas and imagination of the Labour Party and broaden British political debate to a remarkable extent. As well as opposing Conservative austerity with direct moral arguments, he will also put some old issues back on the table, with the Labour Party having to revisit its views on nuclear disarmament, the European Union and higher tax rates on the wealthiest. The economic policies of Corbyn and his shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, are going to put some radical ideas — such as restricting the independence of the Bank of England, nationalizing the energy companies and structurally reforming the City of London by separating retail banks from their investment divisions — onto the mainstream political agenda for the first time. The boundaries of political debate are about to shift.
Finally, Corbyn’s leadership is going to challenge not only moderates but also radicals. The moderate left, whose standard bearers came up so short against him this time, is going to have to discover whether it can reinvent itself in a convincing way rather than hark back to its former glories. The radical left is going to find out whether the organic enthusiasm of packed public meetings can transform into a broad-based swell of public support for a radical break from recent political orthodoxy.
Whatever happens, the constant refrain of the British public that their politicians are all the same has never sounded so implausible.
http://bit.ly/unexpectedriseofjeremycorbyn
This is a call for a fundamental redistribution of wealth and power within the economy, but it is... more This is a call for a fundamental redistribution of wealth and power within the economy, but it is important to note that it is far from being the kind of “Communist” position that Francis’s cruder critics allege. In fact, Francis’s argument is that it is precisely because the exercise of economic freedom is so important for human development that the state has to ensure that this freedom can be enjoyed by all and not just by a plutocratic minority. Far from being a communist, Francis is an advocate of a form of reconfigured, egalitarian capitalism, where the real benefits of a market economy can be claimed by all citizens.
On Al Jazeera America here: http://bit.ly/laudatosi-radicaleconomics
Al Jazeera America online, Mar 22, 2014
Not long ago, reducing inequality of wealth and income was a mission reserved for political lefti... more Not long ago, reducing inequality of wealth and income was a mission reserved for political leftists, often condemned as no more than the politics of envy by their ideological rivals. Egalitarian politics were often dismissed in the 1980s and 1990s as no more than the resentment that the unsuccessful felt for those who were more dynamic and harder working. But things look very different in 2014: Inequality has never been higher on the political agenda than it is today.
President Barack Obama declared in December that tackling income inequality is “the defining challenge of our time.” Bill de Blasio has begun his New York mayoralty by vowing to address the “quiet crisis” of inequality. And Pope Francis, in the first apostolic letter of his papacy, condemned inequality as “the root of social ills”, leading to a “moral destitution” that destroys the social fabric. Obama is due to meet the pope in Rome on March 27, with the White House saying the purpose of the meeting is to discuss “their shared commitment to fighting poverty and growing inequality.”
Now that inequality is clearly no longer a marginal concern, what should we make of this upsurge of egalitarian rhetoric? Have Obama, de Blasio and Francis turned their fire on the right target, or have they lost track of the real problem?
Many on the traditional right would argue that these new egalitarians have lost the plot. But it’s interesting that even some more progressive thinkers do not think that we should care about inequality itself. Princeton philosopher Harry Frankfurt has eloquently defended the view that inequality itself is not something to worry about. According to him, “the trouble with being poor is not that some people are rich. Rather, the trouble consists essentially in having too little to avoid the deprivations and anxieties that are characteristically suffered by people who live in poverty.” As long as everyone has enough for a decent life, who cares how much the rich have or whether inequality is rising or falling?
Frankfurt is surely right to say that the suffering of those in absolute poverty is a cause for great concern, but he is wrong when he says that both the president and the pope are mistaken in moving from a legitimate concern with alleviating poverty to a confused focus on inequality itself. The deprivations of those who suffer from inequality not only are caused by not having enough but also are intimately connected to having less while others have more.
Online at Al Jazeera America here:
http://america.aljazeera.com/opinions/2014/3/inequality-povertydemocracyclosethegap.html
Al Jazeera America, Dec 9, 2013
South Africa, the U.S. the U.K. and other countries would do well to return to Mandela’s and the ... more South Africa, the U.S. the U.K. and other countries would do well to return to Mandela’s and the ANC’s early insights that the central question of social justice concerns control of property and that finding ways to broaden ownership in a fundamental and not merely marginal fashion should be the leading edge of an agenda of economic justice. Mandela stood for the end of economic marginalization and the broad advance of equality of opportunity. After the necessary accommodations needed to find peace, returning to the radical ideas of the younger Mandela can be an important component to finishing the uncompleted work of his remarkable life.
Online at Al Jazeera America here:
http://america.aljazeera.com/opinions/2013/12/mandela-economicsinequalitysouthafrica.html
New Statesman, May 7, 2013
Fabian Review online, Sep 17, 2012
The Guardian, Sep 12, 2012
The Guardian, Oct 19, 2010
The Guardian, Oct 12, 2010
The Guardian, Jul 7, 2010
In a world of unlimited budgets, funding for the lavishly expensive Large Hadron Collider (LHC) a... more In a world of unlimited budgets, funding for the lavishly expensive Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN would be easy to justify. This justification is harder to sustain in our world of competing priorities. But honest debate about the politics and economics of CERN is not helped by a complaisant, nonsense-talking media, and nor is it helped by the wilful obfuscations of some of CERN’s defenders.
Boris Johnson is a dishonest, incompetent clown, whose life has been a story of contemptuous, sel... more Boris Johnson is a dishonest, incompetent clown, whose life has been a story of contemptuous, self-serving privilege. The fact that he may on 1 May be elected Mayor of London tells us something very unsavoury about the ways in which Britain continues to be disfigured by social class.
The case for a new bank holiday.
Is social justice possible within capitalist societies? Or should progressives and egalitarians b... more Is social justice possible within capitalist societies? Or should progressives and egalitarians be looking for viable alternatives to free-market capitalism? John Rawls, one of the most influential political philosophers of the last century, advanced the view that social justice is indeed impossible within the constraints of the capitalist welfare state. Rawls believed that familiar capitalist societies in which a small minority holds a massively disproportionate share of wealth could not possibly be just. Instead, he argued that justice requires a different form of socioeconomic organization, one in which human and nonhuman capital is dispersed widely. He called it a "property-owning democracy".
Property-Owning Democracy: Rawls and Beyond presents the first extended treatment of Rawls' important ideas about the practical implementation of his theory of justice. Contributors to this volume approach Rawls' idea from a number of perspectives: its philosophical foundations, institutional implications, and possible connections to the future of left-of-center politics. Readings shed new light on a variety of topics, including the inequality of current wealth distribution in advanced capitalist societies; ways of funding a system of universal asset holdings; novel democratic forms of ownership; the link between asset ownership and human capital; and many others. Property-Owning Democracy: Rawls and Beyond offers thought-provoking insights into the concept of social justice in the 21st-century world.
On iTunes here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/audiobook/property-owning-democracy/id670490262
On Audible here: http://www.audible.co.uk/pd/Non-fiction/Property-Owning-Democracy-Audiobook/B00DRFXBUG
You wouldn’t know it from listening to frontline politicians, but it is obvious that Britain’s ta... more You wouldn’t know it from listening to frontline politicians, but it is obvious that Britain’s tax regime requires a radical, root-and-branch overhaul. Firstly, getting serious about raising taxes can save us all money. Secondly, creating a more stable and effective tax system can go hand-in-hand with reducing taxes on income for all but the most affluent.
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2018
Finance and philosophy may seem to be worlds apart. But they share at least one common ancestor: ... more Finance and philosophy may seem to be worlds apart. But they share at least one common ancestor: Thales of Miletus. Thales is typically regarded as the first philosopher, but he was also a financial innovator. He appears to have been what we would now call an option trader. He predicted that next year’s olive harvest would be good, and therefore paid a small amount of money to the owners of olive presses for the right to the next year’s use. When the harvest turned out to be as good as predicted, Thales earned a sizable amount of money by renting out the presses (Aristotle, Politics, 1259a). Obviously, a lot has changed since Thales’ times, both in finance and in our ethical and political attitudes towards finance. Coins have largely been replaced by either paper or electronic money, and we have built a large infrastructure to facilitate transactions of money and other financial assets—with elements including commercial banks, central banks, insurance companies, stock exchanges, and...
Philosophy
The idea of predistribution has the potential to offer a valuable and distinctive approach to pol... more The idea of predistribution has the potential to offer a valuable and distinctive approach to political philosophers, political scientists, and economists, in thinking about social justice and the creation of more egalitarian economies. It is also an idea that has drawn the interest of politicians of the left and centre-left, promising an alternative to traditional forms of social democracy. But the idea of predistribution is not well understood, and stands in need of elucidation. This article explores ways of drawing the conceptual and normative distinction between predistribution and redistribution, examining those general categories when considering the roles of public services and fiscal transfers, and looking at the ways in which government policies can empower and disempower different individuals and groups within the economy. This article argues that the most initially plausible and common-sensical ways of drawing the distinction between predistributive and redistributive pub...
Utilitas, 2012
This article seeks to defend prioritarianism against a pair of challenges from Michael Otsuka and... more This article seeks to defend prioritarianism against a pair of challenges from Michael Otsuka and Alex Voorhoeve. Otsuka and Voorhoeve first argue that prioritarianism makes implausible recommendations in one-person cases under conditions of risk, as it fails to allow that it is reasonable to act to maximize expected utility, rather than expected weighted benefits, in such cases. I show that, in response, prioritarians can either reject Otsuka and Voorhoeve's claim, by means of appealing to a distinction between personal and impersonal value, or alternatively they can harmlessly accommodate it, by means of appealing to the status of prioritarianism as a view about the moral value of outcomes, rather than as an account of all-things-considered reasonable action. Otsuka and Voorhoeve secondly claim that prioritarianism fails to explain a divergence in our considered moral judgement between one-person and many-person cases. I show that the prioritarian has two alternative, and inde...
Living Reviews in …, 2009
Much of the confusion arises from the frequent description of Rawls as a proponent of a redistrib... more Much of the confusion arises from the frequent description of Rawls as a proponent of a redistributive welfare state regime. While Rawls's principles of justice do provide philosophical support for the redress of existing inequalities and for the substantial redistribution of resources, it is ...
Renewal, 2018
The Labour leadership is putting together the elements of a new twenty-first century socialist po... more The Labour leadership is putting together the elements of a new twenty-first century socialist political economy with a direct focus on ownership, control, democracy, and participation. Rolled out across the entire economy, it could displace traditional corporate and financial power in Britain.