9. Justice and Development

Summary of the chapter

Liberal Theories of Justice and the Networked Information Economy

Benkler sorts liberal theories of justice into buckets, based on how they explain the sources of inequality. The three primary explanations are (1) luck, (2) responsibility, and (3) structure. The main thesis of this section is that the networked information economy offers concrete improvements over proprietary market economies along all three lines of liberal theories of justice.

Luck

Luck refers to “reasons for the poverty of an individual that are beyond his or her control, and that are part of that individual’s lot in life unaffected by his or her choices or actions.”

John Rawls - Theory of Justice

Benker's use of Rawls' work is rooted in three of Rawls' principles.

• First, Rawls starts from the foundational assumption that the poorest people are in their condition only because of dumb luck.
• Second, Rawls is famous for his "difference principal," which proposes that society should provide those worst off with the benefits of improvement and redistribution of wealth.
• Third, Rawls uses a theoretical thought experiment called the "Veil of Innocence" to propse a mechamism to maximize justice for all members of society. Rawls proposes that principles of justice would be maximized when established from behind a theoretical “veil of innocence,” where “no one knows his place in society, his class position or social status, nor does anyone know his fortune in the distribution of natural assets and abilities, his intelligence, strength, and the like. I shall even assume that the parties do not know their conceptions of the good or their special psychological propensities.” Only then would parties unselfishly maximize the probability that no member of society would experience of poverty or injustice.

Benker's observations:

• If were were to rationally distribute our resources behind the "veil of innocence," we would make rationale decisions, but would not distribute wealth exactly equally. We will trade overall productivity to help the worst cases, but we won't make the huge sacrifices in productivity necessary for a totally equal system.

Responsibility

Responsibility refers to “causes for the poverty of an individual that can be traced back to his or her actions or choices.

Robert Nozick - Anarchy, State and Utopia

Nozick is famous for his Entitlement Theory, which contains three principles:

• Transfer principle: Property acquired freely from others who in turn acquired the property in a just way is to be considered justly acquired.
• Acquisition principle: Persons are entitled to property they initially acquired in a just way.
• Rectification principle: Rectify violations of 1 or 2 by restoring property to its rightful owners. (Source)

Benkler’s observations and criticisms of the Entitlement Theory

• The theory ignores the poor
• Poverty explained solely as derived from a lack of responsibility
• Highly resistant to claims of redistribution

Ronald Dworkin - Sovereign Virtue

Dworkin's work combines luck and responsibility in an attempt to alleviate some of the shortcomings (i.e., impossibilities) of Rawls' theory. Dworkin's work does not reject the possibility of redistribution as Nozick's does. Basically, his framework for a just system uses an "auction plus insurance" mechanism to duplicate effect of Rawls' [quite impossible] "Veil of Innocence" using market

• Step 1: Auction. The model starts with an initially equitable distribution of resources (described by Dworkin as an auction in which individuals use the initially distributed resources to bid for resources in the community.)
• Step 2: Insurance. Because people differ in circumstances (i.e., luck), the initial distribution is supplemented with insurance. Everyone pays into a common pool, which is then used to help those with bad luck. (Source)

Benkler’s observations and criticisms

• Less attractive from perspective of liberal theories focusing on personal autonomy because it ignores personal responsibility.
• Good for proving a metric of “justness” which can be used to optimize redistribution.
• Too difficult to measure the value of the insured-for issues – wealth, intelligence, health.

Structure

Structure refers to “causes for the inequality of an individual that are beyond hir or her control, but are traceable to institutions, economic organizations, or social relationships that form a society’s transactional framework.

Case Studies

Supporting examples

Jamaica Project

Harvard Law School's Berkman Center for Internet and Society is currently involved in a project with prisoners in Jamaica. One its website, the following information is given:

"Led by Berkman Faculty Co-Director Charles Nesson, the Jamaica Project was established in 1998 and has expanded with each successive year through a series of interconnected initiatives. The Project focuses on the problems caused by globalization, exploring the thesis that networks based on communication and exchange of social and intellectual capital can help in rehabilitation of developing countries hurt by globalization."

I had the opportunity to interact with some of the people involed in this project. And will share the information I gained from that session to demonstrate the fact that the internet can have a positive value for social justice.

The program is focused on prisons. According to those involved, the prison situation in Jamaica is less than ideal. There are problems with over-crowding as well as a lack of sanitation. There is huge animosity between the gaurds and the prisoners. As within any prison system, new social ordering rules are created. Many young men are in prison, often for drug-related crimes. It is difficult for these men to re-enter society and to get jobs, etc.

Why was Jamaica chosen? Afterall, there are poor prison conditions everywhere. According to Professor Charles Nesson, Jamaica was chosen for it's isolation as an island nation as well as for the fact that, even as a small nation, Jamaica has worldwide recognition. Professor Nesson cites the proliferation of reggae music as one example of this.

The project focuses on helping prisoners by allowing them to gain new skills and do different things for themselves. One early project was a radio station in the prison. This allowed information to be easily transfered between prisoners and outsiderers such as their families. The program has also included utilizing computers to learn and create. The program has worked with musician Jah Cure who has been developing music while in prison.

While this project is still in its developing stages, it shows promise for allowing the internet to make a difference in the lives of many of these young men. It has not been able to provide a seemless integration for prisoners back into daily life, but hopes to allow the prisoners to collaborate and start businesses once released.

For additional information please visit the following links:

• Harvard Jamaica Project
• Wayne&Wax.org
• Christopher Lydon's Parachute Radio