Globalization and Justice

In an era of globalization, basic institutional structures that shape our daily interactions transcend national boundaries. According to the institutional approach to social justice favored by John Rawls, we have a special obligation to ensure that the basic terms of these interactions are just. Two recent proposals would help accomplish this: a global resource dividend and a Tobin tax. Both of these proposals work within markets. Some have objected that globalization will lead to the homogenization of previously diverse cultures. However, although globalization will increase the pace of cultural and social change, the path of these developments is unpredictable.