Marxist approach to International Relations

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The Marxist approach to the study of international relational is unconventional, as it insists on the need for change, unlike the realist and liberals. It is not status-quoits and stands for radical change of the existing international/world order. Liberals and Realist theories hold that power is organized vertically, reflecting the division of the world into independent states, Marxism advances a theory of horizontal organization based on international class. Marxist agrees that the social world must be viewed and analyzed in totality. They insist that understanding one without knowledge of the other is not possible because the social world can only be studied as a whole. Another key element of the Marxist approach is the materialist conception of history. Economic development serves as the motor of history. The central dynamic that Marx identifies is tension between means of production and relations of production that together form the economic base of a given society. The legal,...
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Configure John Rawls Theory of Justice (IGNOU/UPSC/STATE EXAMS)

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John Rawl is known as a social liberal philosopher and is famous for his theory of justice.

In his article 'justice as fairness,' he called justice as the first virtue of social institution. For him, fairness means, system should be fair for those who are meritorious as well as for those who are not so capable. Capitalism may not be fair for poor and communism for hardworking. Thus, justice must meet the criteria of fairness.

                                       RAWL'S        INFLUENCE

POSITIVE LAW & POSITIVE JUSTICE: John Locke

COMMON GOOD: Rousseau

SELF RESPECT & DIGNITY: Immanuel Kant

Rawl's theory of justice is a criticism of utilitarianism. He describes his theory as de-ontological whereas utilitarianism as the end state theory. 

He says that his theory is purely procedural as he only gives the right procedure and does not give any specific formula of justice.

                      RAWL CRITICIZED 3 SCHOOL OF THOUGHTS

1.Utilitarianism

2. Perfectionism

3. Marxism

           Rawl claims that we should conceive 'justice as fairness'. To identify fairness, Rawl gave the concept of original position and veil of ignorance.

ORIGINAL POSITION AND VEIL OF IGNORANCE

                The original position is a hypothetical situation where nobody knows whether they are advantaged by luck. And fairness is achieved through the veil of ignorance. Imagine, two kids at a birthday party are left with only 1 slice of cake, so they need to split it. But there is a problem, if we ask the first kid to cut it, she will try to cut the bigger size for herself and if we ask the second kid, he will try to cut a bigger size for himself. So, how can we make sure that whoever cuts the cake will cut it as fairly as possible? Therefore, whoever cuts the cake must choose their piece last. If the person doing the cutting does not know which piece they will get, then they will try their best to make sure that the pieces are split evenly. According to Rawl, this simple example provides an important insight about how to create a fair and just society.

            The basic idea is that, people under the veil of ignorance would want to ensure fairness and secure the position of the least advantage, as any choice they make in structuring the society could either harm them or benefit them. Therefore, one can use the veil of ignorance as a tool for making  fair choices.

    THE TWO PRINCIPLES OF JUSTICE

Rawl presented two principles of justice that self interested and rational individuals would choose when separated by veil of ignorance.

1. PRINCIPKE OF EQUAL LIBERTY: It states that all citizens have equal rights to basic liberty (freedom of conscience, expression, association etc)

2.PRINCIPLE OF EQUALITY: Economic principles should be arranged in a way they meet two requirements. First, the least advantaged in society should receive a greater number of benefits. Secondly, no individual is blocked from occupying any position or office regardless of their sex, ethnicity or social background.

               Though, Rawl's theory has been criticized by feminist, socialist and libertarians, his theory still offers intuitively correct answers in several important cases and is instrumental for the development of justice in an unjust world.






                                                        


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