A Conceptual Framework of Inequality and Social Justice: An Exploratory Nexus for Theoretical Knowledge
Keywords:
Inequality; Justice; Social Justice; Capability approachAbstract
While much research and action aimed at reducing inequality seek to achieve social justice, the lack of a forum for discussion and exchange on the goal of social justice often excludes certain groups from the inequality reduction process. This typically leads to debates about various approaches to reducing inequality. This lack of consideration is given to the goal of developing the capabilities of people with different life resources and burdens, the factors that hinder policy implementation, and the differing worldviews of justice among various groups. This article presents a framework for inequality and social justice, categorizing inequality according to Therborn's concept, combined with Amartya Sen's concept of the capacity approach, which takes into account differences in life resources and social resources as envisioned by Boudier. This approach aims to achieve various forms of social justice, taking into account both procedural justice and the diverse worldviews of justice held by individuals in society.
References
Anthias, Floya. 2013. “Intersectional What? Social Divisions, Intersectionality and Levels of Analysis.” Ethnicities 13(1):3–19. doi:10.1177/1468796812463547.
Atkinson, Anthony, and Thomas Piketty. 2007. “Top Incomes over the Twentieth Century: A Contrast between Continental European and English Speaking Countries.” 1.
Bourdieu, Pierre. 1986. “The Forms of Capital.” in Handbook of Theory and Research for the Sociology of Education. New York: Greenwood.
Bourdieu, Pierre. 1987. Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Bourdieu, Pierre. 1990. The Logic of Practice. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
Brooks, Thom. 2012. “Punishment and Moral Sentiments.” The Review of Metaphysics 66(2):281–93.
Burawoy, Michael. 2015. “Facing an Unequal World.” Current Sociology 63(1):5–34. doi:10.1177/0011392114564091.
Caillods, Françoise. 2016. “Knowledge Divides: Social Science Production on Inequalities and Social Justice.” Pp. 280–85 in World social science report, 2016: Challenging inequalities; pathways to a just world.
Carlsmith, Kevin M., and John M. Darley. 2008. “Psychological Aspects of Retributive Justice.” Pp. 193–236 in Advances in Experimental Social Psychology. Vol. 40. Academic Press.
Cohen, Ronald L. 2016. “Restorative Justice.” Pp. 257–72 in Handbook of Social Justice Theory and Research, edited by C. Sabbagh and M. Schmitt. New York, NY: Springer.
Correia, Isabel, and J. Vala. 2004. “Belief in a Just World, Subjective Well-Being and Trust of Young Adults.” Pp. 85–100 in The justice motive in adolescence and young adulthood: Origins and consequences. Vol. 8. Routledge.
Dalbert, Claudia. 1999. “The World Is More Just for Me than Generally: About the Personal Belief in a Just World Scale’s Validity.” Social Justice Research 12(2):79–98. doi:10.1023/A:1022091609047.
Dalbert, Claudia. 2009. “Belief in a Just World.” Pp. 288–97 in Handbook of individual differences in social behavior. New York, NY, US: The Guilford Press.
Darley, John M., and Thane S. Pittman. 2003. “The Psychology of Compensatory and Retributive Justice.” Personality and Social Psychology Review 7(4):324–36. doi:10.1207/S15327957PSPR0704_05.
Deutsch, Morton. 1975. “Equity, Equality, and Need: What Determines Which Value Will Be Used as the Basis of Distributive Justice?” Journal of Social Issues 31(3):137–49. doi:10.1111/j.1540-4560.1975.tb01000.x.
Folger, Robert, David Rosenfield, Janet Grove, and Louise Corkran. 1979. “Effects of ‘Voice’ and Peer Opinions on Responses to Inequity.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 37(12):2253–61. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.37.12.2253.
Furnham, Adrian. 2003. “Belief in a Just World: Research Progress over the Past Decade.” Personality and Individual Differences 34(5):795–817. doi:10.1016/S0191-8869(02)00072-7.
Hafer, Carolyn, and L. Gosse. 2010. “Preserving the Belief in a Just World: When and for Whom Are Different Strategies Preferred?” The Psychology of Justice and Legitimacy: The Ontario Symposium 11:79–102.
Hafer, Carolyn L., and Laurent Bègue. 2005. “Experimental Research on Just-World Theory: Problems, Developments, and Future Challenges.” Psychological Bulletin 131(1):128–67. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.131.1.128.
Hart, Caroline Sarojini. 2019. “Education, Inequality and Social Justice: A Critical Analysis Applying the Sen-Bourdieu Analytical Framework.” Policy Futures in Education 17(5):582–98. doi:10.1177/1478210318809758.
Hayek, Friedrich A. 1960. The Constitution of Liberty. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
Hayek, Friedrich A. 1974. The Pretence of Knowledge. Nobel Prize in Economics documents. 1974–2. Nobel Prize Committee. https://econpapers.repec.org/paper/risnobelp/1974_5f002.htm.
Hogan, Robert, and Nicholas P. Emler. 1981. “Retributive Justice.” Pp. 125–43 in The Justice Motive in Social Behavior: Adapting to Times of Scarcity and Change, Critical Issues in Social Justice, edited by M. J. Lerner and S. C. Lerner. Boston, MA: Springer US.
Jenkins, Richard. 1982. “Pierre Bourdieu and the Reproduction of Determinism.” Sociology 16(2):270–81.
Kongkirati, Prajak. 2019. “From Illiberal Democracy to Military Authoritarianism: Intra-Elite Struggle and Mass-Based Conflict in Deeply Polarized Thailand.” The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 681(1):24–40. doi:10.1177/0002716218806912.
Konow, James, and Lars Schwettmann. 2016. “The Economics of Justice.” Pp. 83–106 in Handbook of Social Justice Theory and Research, edited by C. Sabbagh and M. Schmitt. New York, NY: Springer.
Lerner, M. J. 1965. “EVALUATION OF PERFORMANCE AS A FUNCTION OF PERFORMER’S REWARD AND ATTRACTIVENESS.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 1:355–60. doi:10.1037/h0021806.
Lerner, Melvin. 1980. The Belief in a Just World: A Fundamental Delusion. Critical Issues in Social Justice. Springer US.
Lerner, Melvin J., and Dale T. Miller. 1978. “Just World Research and the Attribution Process: Looking Back and Ahead.” Psychological Bulletin 85(5):1030.
Leventhal, Gerald S. 1980. “What Should Be Done with Equity Theory?” Pp. 27–55 in Social Exchange: Advances in Theory and Research, edited by K. J. Gergen, M. S. Greenberg, and R. H. Willis. Boston, MA: Springer US.
Lind, E., and Tom Tyler. 1988. The Social Psychology of Procedural Justice. Vol. 18.
Lipkus, Isaac. 1991. “The Construction and Preliminary Validation of a Global Belief in a Just World Scale and the Exploratory Analysis of the Multidimensional Belief in a Just World Scale.” Personality and Individual Differences 12:1171–78. doi:10.1016/0191-8869(91)90081-L.
Marmot, M., and R. Bell. 2012. “Fair Society, Healthy Lives.” Public Health 126 Suppl 1:S4–10. doi:10.1016/j.puhe.2012.05.014.
Marmot, M. G., G. Rose, M. Shipley, and P. J. Hamilton. 1978. “Employment Grade and Coronary Heart Disease in British Civil Servants.” Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health 32(4):244–49.
Marmot, M. G., G. D. Smith, S. Stansfeld, C. Patel, F. North, J. Head, I. White, E. Brunner, and A. Feeney. 1991. “Health Inequalities among British Civil Servants: The Whitehall II Study.” Lancet (London, England) 337(8754):1387–93. doi:10.1016/0140-6736(91)93068-k.
Marmot, Michael. 2005. “Social Determinants of Health Inequalities.” Lancet (London, England) 365(9464):1099–1104. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(05)71146-6.
Marmot, Michael, Sharon Friel, Ruth Bell, Tanja A. J. Houweling, Sebastian Taylor, and Commission on Social Determinants of Health. 2008. “Closing the Gap in a Generation: Health Equity through Action on the Social Determinants of Health.” Lancet (London, England) 372(9650):1661–69. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(08)61690-6.
Merkel, Wolfgang. 2001. “Soziale Gerechtigkeit und die drei Welten des Wohlfahrtskapitalismus.” Berliner Journal für Soziologie 11(2):135–57. doi:10.1007/BF03204011.
Merkel, Wolfgang. 2002. “Social Justice and the Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism.” European Journal of Sociology / Archives Européennes de Sociologie / Europäisches Archiv Für Soziologie 43(1):59–91.
Paccoud, Ivana, James Nazroo, and Anja Leist. 2020. “A Bourdieusian Approach to Class‐related Inequalities: The Role of Capitals and Capital Structure in the Utilisation of Healthcare Services in Later Life.” Sociology of Health & Illness 42(3):510–25. doi:10.1111/1467-9566.13028.
Piketty, Thomas, and Emmanuel Saez. 2003. “Income Inequality In The United States, 1913-1998.” The Quarterly Journal of Economics 118:1–39. doi:10.1162/00335530360535135.
Putnam, Robert D. 2016. Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis. Reprint edition. New York: Simon & Schuster.
Rachels, James, and Stuart Rachels. 2011. The Elements of Moral Philosophy. 7th edition. New York: McGraw-Hill Education.
Rawls, John. 1971. A Theory of Justice. Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.
Reform Committee. 2011. แนวทางการปฏิรูปประเทศไทย: ข้อเสนอต่อพรรคการเมืองและผู้มีสิทธิเลือกตั้ง [Country Reform Guideline: Recommendation for Political Parties and Voters]. Office of Reform Committee.
Rubin, Zick, and Anne Peplau. 1973. “Belief in a Just World and Reactions to Another’s Lot: A Study of Participants in the National Draft Lottery1.” Journal of Social Issues 29(4):73–93. doi:10.1111/j.1540-4560.1973.tb00104.x.
Rubin, Zick, and Letitia Anne Peplau. 1975. “Who Believes in a Just World?” Journal of Social Issues 31(3):65–89. doi:https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4560.1975.tb00997.x.
Sen, Amartya. 1980. “Equality of What?” The Tanner Lecture on Human Values I:197–220.
Sen, Amartya. 1992. Inequality Reexamined. Oxford University Press.
Sen, Amartya. 1993. The Quality of Life. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Sen, Amartya. 2000. Development as Freedom. New York.
Stewart, Frances. 2000. “Crisis Prevention: Tackling Horizontal Inequalities.” Oxford Development Studies 28(3):245–62. doi:10.1080/713688319.
Stewart, Frances. 2005. “Horizontal Inequalities: A Neglected Dimension of Development.” Pp. 101–35 in Wider Perspectives on Global Development, Studies in Development Economics and Policy, edited by A. B. Atkinson, K. Basu, J. N. Bhagwati, D. C. North, D. Rodrik, F. Stewart, J. E. Stiglitz, and J. G. Williamson. London: Palgrave Macmillan UK.
Stiglitz, Joseph E. 2013. The Price of Inequality: How Today’s Divided Society Endangers Our Future. Reprint edition. New York: W. W. Norton & Company.
Stiglitz, Joseph E. 2015. The Great Divide: Unequal Societies and What We Can Do About Them. W. W. Norton & Company.
Therborn, Göran. 2001. “Globalization and Inequality. Issues of Conceptualization and Explanation.” Soziale Welt 52(4):449–76.
Therborn, Göran, ed. 2006. Inequalities of the World: New Theoretical Frameworks, Multiple Empirical Approaches. Verso Books.
Therborn, Göran. 2009. “The Killing Fields of Inequality.” Soundings 42(42):20–32. doi:10.3898/136266209789024960.
Thibaut, John W., and Laurens Walker. 1975. Procedural Justice: A Psychological Analysis. 1st edition. Hillsdale, N.J. : New York: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Tilly, Charles. 1999. Durable Inequality. University of California Press.
Tyler, Tom, and E. Lind. 1992. “A Relational Model of Authority in Groups.” Advances in Experimental Social Psychology 25:115–92. doi:10.1016/S0065-2601(08)60283-X.
Walzer, Michael. 1983. “Spheres of Justice: A Defence of Pluralism and Equality.” Philosophy 59(229):413–15.
Wenzel, Michael, Tyler G. Okimoto, Norman T. Feather, and Michael J. Platow. 2008. “Retributive and Restorative Justice.” Law and Human Behavior 32(5):375–89. doi:10.1007/s10979-007-9116-6.
Wilkinson, Richard G. 1996. Unhealthy Societies. 1st edition. London ; New York: Routledge.
Wilkinson, Richard G., and Kate Pickett. 2009. The Spirit Level: Why More Equal Societies Almost Always Do Better.
Zehr, Howard. 2015. The Little Book of Restorative Justice: Revised and Updated. Simon and Schuster.
สมเกียรติ ตั้งกิจวานิชย์. 2553. “ความเหลื่อมล้ำทางเศรษฐกิจกับประชาธิปไตย: ปาฐกถา ๑๔ ตุุลา ประจำปี ๒๕๕๓.”
สมชัย จิตสุชน, ธิดา อินทรโชติ, and ชัยสิทธิ์ อนุชิตวรวงศ์. 2549. ความเหลื่อมล้ำทางเศรษฐกิจกับความขัดแย้งในสังคม: ทฤษฎี ประสบการณ์ และแนวทางสมานฉันท์. 40. รายงานทีดีอาร์ไอ. สถาบันวิจัยเพื่อการพัฒนาประเทศไทย (ทีดีอาร์ไอ). https://tdri.or.th/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/wb40.pdf.
อภิชาต สถิตนิรามัย, ยุกติ มุกดาวิจิตร, and นิติ ภวัครพันธุ์. 2554. ทบทวนภูมิทัศน์การเมืองไทย: รายงานวิจัยฉบับสมบูรณ์. กรุงเทพฯ: แผนงานสร้างเสริมนโยบายสาธารณะที่ดี. https://kpi-lib.com/library/books/kpibook-24111/.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Social Justice and Inequality Journal
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
