TECHNOLOGY, NEEDS AND POWER AS MEANS OF DISTRIBUTION AND JUSTICE

Abstract

This paper provides a review of the philosophical traditions on the study of social inequality andrecent theories of justice. On the one hand, it sets forth the fundamental ideas of thosephilosophers who have been labeled as conservative or functionalists and have defendedinequality as something which is expected to be just and inevitable. On the other hand, itpresents, as well, the ideas of those philosophers known as radicals who state not only thatsocial inequality is unjust, but rather that it is evitable as well. Subsequently, the paperdescribes the main ideas concentrated in what Lenski (1993) calls the growing dialecticsynthesis of the theory of social stratification which incorporates elements from both traditions.The paper reviews the theories of distribution based on the principles of political economyproposed by the classical economists, and contrasts them with those proposed by themarginalist theory and the theory of social stratification. In doing so, the paper briefly considersthe relationship between technology, and political instruments of distribution such as needs,power and privileges. Regarding the recent theories of justice, the paper mainly focuses on theproposals of Rawls (1971) and Nozick (1974). Finally, with respect to the current state of affairs,the roles of information-based technology and modern post-Bretton Woods financial Institutionsare briefly discussed -in terms of their complementarities- to explain the well known persistentincrease in global social inequality.