Pluralizing Political Philosophy: Ecological and Economic Inequalities in Global Perspective

Professor of Ethics of Institutions Ingrid Robeyns has brought together a wide range of political philosophers in the new volume Pluralizing Political Philosophy: Ecological and Economic Inequalities in Global Perspective, to advance the debate on how to make analytical political philosophy more inclusive.

Bringing different traditions together

Analytical political philosophy has for a long time been criticised for marginalising (to a greater or lesser extent) certain voices and perspectives. Some of these voices and perspectives are internal critics of the liberal tradition. In addition, philosophers from the Global North have often ignored non-western perspectives. While there are well-developed specialist literatures on all of these traditions, they tend to be studied mainly by specialists. Non-western political philosophy and the internal critiques of liberal political philosophy are still often overlooked in the field.

In this volume, political philosophers who are experts on those traditions, as well as liberal political philosophers, have contributed chapters to show what their traditions could offer to the discussion on ecological and economic inequalities. Together, they illustrate the diversity of a pluralised political philosophy. The contributors also discuss important questions such as why and how liberal thinkers should engage with literature from the Global South, whether and how to pluralise the canon, and what the discipline would gain by further pluralising.

The perspectives included in this book are Māori philosophy, ecofeminism, care ethics, Confucian political philosophy, Ubuntu, Buen Vivir, a novel hybrid approach, as well as liberal egalitarianism and classical liberalism. The book takes ecological and economic inequalities as its particular focus. This allows the reader to better compare the assumptions behind each tradition and understand how their conclusions differ.

Taking the debate forward

This edited volume aims to contribute to the growing debate on the nature of contemporary political philosophy, including its biases, unquestioned assumptions, and possible omissions. The book therefore also includes four chapters that provide critical reflections on the chapters in the book, and the lessons we can learn for the discipline of analytical political philosophy.

Since the book is published open access, the hope is that students and scholars of political philosophy from around the world can use it to expand their knowledge of diversity within the discipline, as well as engage with the question what pluralising political philosophy could and should entail.