Book Review: Justice and Vulnerability in Europe: An Interdisciplinary Approach, Trudie Knijn and Dorota Lepianka (eds)
| Author | Michael Adler |
| Date | 01 June 2021 |
| DOI | 10.1177/13882627211001873 |
| Published date | 01 June 2021 |
| Subject Matter | Book Reviews |
Book Reviews
Book Reviews
Trudie Knijn and Dorota Lepianka (eds) Justice and Vulnerability in Europe: An Interdisciplinary
Approach, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing, 270 pages, 2020, ISBN 978-1-83910-847 -1
(hardcover), 978-1-83910-848-8 (eBook)
Reviewed by: Michael Adler , University of Edinburgh, Scotland
DOI: 10.1177/13882627211001873
This challengingbook takes the philosopherNancy Fraser’stheory of social justice as its startingpoint
for conceptualising justiceand vulnerability.Fraser’s theory is basedon a tripartite distinctionbetween
justice as redistribution (which emphasises the need for a more equitable distribution of resources),
justiceof recognition (whichpromotes a more equalrecognition of differentgroups within society)and
justice as (political) representation (which argues that social arrangements should enable all (adult)
members of society to interact ‘aspeers’, i.e., more equallywith each other),. These threedimensions
of justice cover social and economic inequality, cultural insensitivity,and political participation.
Fraser’s work has its roots in the ‘Critical Theory’ of the Frankfurt School. This is an approach
to philosophy that focuses on a reflective assessment and critique of society and culture to reveal
and challenge power structures. It argues that social problems, such as vulnerability, are influenced
and created more by social structures and cultural assumptions than by individual and psycholo-
gical factors. According to Max Horkheimer - who was one of the ‘leading lights’ of the Frankfurt
School and who migrated from Frankfurt to Geneva and then to New York City in 1935 - Critical
Theory aims ‘to liberate human beings from the circumstances that enslave them’. One of the main
centresfor Critical Theorytoday is the New School of SocialResearch in New York City, whereNancy
Fraser teaches.I think it would have beenhelpful if the book under reviewhad included an account of
the distinctive features of Critical Theory and of Nancy Fraser’s relationship to it, highlighting her
critique of its gender-blindness andher attempt to insert a gender dimension into Critical Theory.
Justice and Vulnerability in Europe is based on the ETHOS Project, a three-year, multi-
disciplinary research project, which involved a collaboration between research institutions in six
European countries (the Netherlands, Austria, Hungary, Portugal, Turkey, and the UK) and which
was coordinated by Trudie Knijn (University of Utrecht). ETHOS attempted to develop a new
integrative perspective on justice and fairness by:
combining conceptualisations of justice in various disciplines and schools of thought;
bridging a gap between theoretical and empirical analyses of justice and fairness;
accommodating the voices of vulnerable groups using a variety of data sources.
The ETHOS Project produced a series of country reports and attempted to combine them to
generate an empirically based and distinctly European theory of justice and fairness.
European Journal of Social Security
2021, Vol. 23(2) 179–188
ªThe Author(s) 2021
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