Egalitarian justice seeks greater equality among people, cosmopolitan justice applies moral obligations across national borders, and ecological justice considers fair relations involving the environment, future generations, and sometimes non-human nature. They differ mainly in who or what belongs within the community of justice.
Three Approaches to Justice
Justice is a contested concept because political actors disagree about what fairness requires and whose interests count. These approaches belong within the Rights and Justice thematic study for both SL and HL.
| Approach | Central question | Contemporary example |
|---|---|---|
| Egalitarian justice | How should resources, opportunities, rights, and political influence be distributed more equally among people? | South Africa's post-apartheid social grant system redistributes public resources to reduce severe socioeconomic inequality. In 2024, approximately 19 million people received permanent social grants. |
| Cosmopolitan justice | What obligations do individuals, states, and institutions have toward all human beings, regardless of nationality? | COVAX, launched in 2020, sought fair global access to COVID-19 vaccines. Its difficulties showed how wealthy states' advance purchases could conflict with universal obligations to people in lower-income states. |
| Ecological justice | How should environmental benefits and harms be distributed, and should future generations or ecosystems possess claims of their own? | Ecuador's 2008 Constitution recognized rights of nature. In 2021, its Constitutional Court used these provisions to protect the Los Cedros forest from mining concessions. |
These approaches can overlap. Climate change, for example, raises egalitarian questions because poorer communities often have fewer resources for adaptation, cosmopolitan questions because emissions cross borders, and ecological questions because environmental destruction affects ecosystems and future generations.
A common misconception is that these are mutually exclusive theories. They are better treated as different analytical lenses: one emphasizes equality, another universal human membership, and another environmental and intergenerational relationships.
Exam Technique
In a Paper 2 response, define the relevant conception of justice, explain its unit of concern, and apply a specific contemporary case. To reach stronger analytical levels, compare perspectives and connect justice to power and interdependence, rather than merely listing definitions.