The Evolving Spheres of International Justice

Recent discussions about globalization and increasing global inequalities of wealth have reawakened interest in the possibility of a just international order. The unequal distribution of wealth remains central to discussions of global justice but it is not the sole consideration. Additional issues are raised by the democratic deficit in international relations, the growing importance of cross-border harm, the need for cooperation to protect the environment and the treatment of non-human species. These different spheres of justice prompt the question of whether states can act as agents of reform, encouraged by the more progressive forces in global civil society. A related issue is whether the interplay between the states-system and global civil society will lead to more cosmopolitan forms of national and international law. Answers to these questions require new advances in normative and empirical inquiry.