Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Thesis Format

Integrated Article

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy

Program

Philosophy

Supervisor

McLeod, Carolyn

Abstract

This thesis focuses on structural injustice and political solidarity in resistance to structural injustice. The first article grapples with the tension between complicity in structural injustice and political solidarity in resistance to injustice. I explore how complicity in structural injustice can inhibit the conditions needed for a meaningful sense of political solidarity. However, given that it is not realistic to eliminate all complicity in structural injustice, I argue that solidarity requires that we reckon with complicity and offer an account of what this involves. The second article focuses on Iris Marion Young’s practical concern that interpreting our responsibility for structural injustice as backward-looking blameworthiness tends to produce defensiveness, thus pushing individuals away from joining in collective movements towards justice. I argue that tendencies towards defensiveness are, in part, caused by the fact that we have conflated backward-looking responsibility with punishment. Drawing on insights from restorative and transformative justice movements, I argue that we can disentangle backward-looking responsibility from punishment in order to begin addressing the cultural problem of defensiveness in discussions about responsibility for injustice. The third article explores solidarity-building in the context of the contemporary “digital age”. I clarify the connection between María Lugones’ concept of “world”-travelling and solidarity-building, develop an account of “whole-hearted solidarity”, and discuss two worries about the use of social media for “world”-travelling and solidarity-building. I close by discussing some hopeful possibilities about how social media can, despite these worries, be used as a helpful tool for finding opportunities for “world”-traveling and building solidarity.

Summary for Lay Audience

This project focuses on structural injustice and political solidarity in resistance to structural injustice. Structural injustice is a fairly abstract concept but, in short, it refers to injustices that are the result of a wide range of “social-structural processes” and how those processes interact together (i.e. institutional policies and practices, economic processes, infrastructural decisions, as well as social norms and conventions). This means that structural injustice arises as a result of the “normal flow” of daily life, rather than individuals doing something wrong directly. We can think, for example, of climate change. Presumably, none of us intend to contribute to climate change, yet most of us do simply by participating in modern life (i.e. driving gas-powered vehicles, using single-use plastic products, and so on). Given that structural injustice is caused by the collective sum of many individuals’ actions, we need to work together collectively in order to remedy structural injustice. Thus, this project claims that we need to build political solidarity so that we can work together to reduce injustice.

Political solidarity is a familiar term to most of us, but this project aims to get clear on the nature of political solidarity. I argue that solidarity does not only require that we have a shared commitment to addressing an injustice. It also involves certain attitudes held between those in solidarity (i.e. mutual trust, respect, loyalty and support). This project builds on what others have said and argues that solidarity also involves a commitment to the possibility that social-structural processes can be changed (rather than accepting things as they are), requires that we work together in creative ways in order to bring about that change, and entails that we take care of each other as we do that political work together.

Given that political solidarity is needed for addressing structural injustice, this project considers what challenges there are to building solidarity. In other words, it considers what barriers there are to fulfilling the conditions outlined in the description of political solidarity above.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

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