On Rawls, Development and Global Justice: The Freedom of Peoples

In realizing John Rawls' principle of 'the duty of assistance', this book illustrates an original theoretical response to the ideal of global justice and looks at the critical debate surrounding Rawls' work on international political theory, The Law of Peoples. Responding to the work of cosmopolitan theorists and Amartya Sen's recent critique, Huw Lloyd Williams argues that Rawls' offers a persuasive and prescient moral approach to the real-world issues of international poverty and development. The duty of assistance is presented as a far-reaching principle of justice that aims to build the state capability of burdened societies, compelling the most powerful states to reform international structures and provide aid in a constructive and culturally-sensitive manner. The target of assistance is not the liberalization and democratization of developing societies, but the strengthening of decent, indigenous institutions, and the promotion of 'the freedom of peoples'. On Rawls, Development and Global Justice is an original contribution to current debates on international redistribution, democracy promotion and global poverty.