The Case for Reparations

Martin, Michael T.; Yaquinto, Marilyn; Lyons, David; Brown, Michael K.

doi:10.1215/9780822389811-006

Cited by 4 publications

(3 citation statements)

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“…One could raise similar concerns about recent public apologies that have called for racial reconciliation without delineating any concrete measures that the state might take to undo the ongoing effects of racial power inequities. Accordingly, my argument resembles Robert Fullinwider’s (2000) account of reparations as a matter of both corporate (state) and civic (citizens’) responsibility. Fullinwider frames his argument as a matter of moral liability for the crimes of the past, but I want to suggest that a political conception of responsibility closer to Young’s allows reparations advocates to link a backward-looking assessment of harm to a forward-looking conception of democratic reconstruction.…”

Section: After Justicementioning

confidence: 67%

UNTHINKING RACIAL REALISM: A FUTURE FOR REPARATIONS?¹

Balfour

2014

Du Bois Rev.

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Considered costly, divisive, and backward-looking, reparations for slavery and Jim Crow appear to have no place in the politics of the "postracial epoch." This essay proposes that the dismissal of reparations concedes too much. First, I contend that the conjunction of postracial discourse, on the one hand, and deepening racial inequalities, on the other, demands a counter-language, one that ties the analysis of the present to the historical conditions out of which it was produced. I explore reparations as a political language that (1) situates political claims within the historical framework of slavery, reconstruction, and segregation; (2) links past to present to future in its demand for concrete forms of redress; and (3) has played an important role in African American political life and in contemporary democracies in transition. Second, in contrast to much of the reparations scholarship, I focus on the demands of democracy rather than justice. Doing so both helps to evade some of the technical questions that have prevented full consideration of the political work of reparations and provides a vehicle for redefining both governmental and civic responsibility in the shadow of slavery and Jim Crow.

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Section: After Justicementioning

confidence: 67%

UNTHINKING RACIAL REALISM: A FUTURE FOR REPARATIONS?¹

Balfour

2014

Du Bois Rev.

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“…67 Furthermore, the Kantian ban on property-ownership by the dead proves congenial to present-day reparationists such as Robert Fullinwider, who propose that reparations fund organizations, rather than direct payments to individuals. 68…”

Section: Claims 'Continuously Maintained and Documented'mentioning

confidence: 99%

At the bar of conscience: A Kantian argument for slavery reparations

Fisette

2021

Philosophy & Social Criticism

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Arguments for slavery reparations have fallen out of favour even as reparations for other forms of racial injustice are taken more seriously. This retreat is unsurprising, as arguments for slavery reparations often rely on two normatively irregular claims: that reparations are owed to the dead (as opposed to, say, their living heirs) and that the present generation inherits an as yet unrequited guilt from past generations. Outside of some strands of Black thought and activism on slavery reparations, these claims are widely rejected. I develop an argument for slavery reparations around those foundational claims by adopting the normative framework of Immanuel Kant. On what I call the Basic Argument for slavery reparations, the application of Kant’s retributivist theory of punishment to slavery justifies reparations as a kind of proportional punishment for slavery. I also show that Kant’s philosophy offers reparations theorists resources to overcome several contemporary objections to slavery reparations.

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“…As Robert Fullinwider notes, reparations arguments that trade on notions of personal guilt and innocence can distract from questions of collective responsibility. 70 A second peril resides in the effort to build the case for reparations from a notion of inheritance. Although a compelling argument can be made along these lines, 71 to do so requires accepting inegalitarian aspects of liberal individualism.…”

Section: Past Repair?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Reparations After Identity Politics

Balfour

2005

Political Theory

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The end of the twentieth century witnessed a resurgence of demands for reparations for slavery and segregation in the United States. At the same time, a chorus of prominent political theorists warned against the threat “identity politics” poses for democratic politics. This essay considers whether it is possible to construct an argument for reparations that responds to these concerns, particularly as they are articulated by Wendy Brown. To do so, I explore how Brown’s analysis of the dangers of political organizing around“wounded identities” and of appealing to the state for redress might inform and be informed by arguments for black reparations.

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The Case for Reparations

Cited by 4 publications

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UNTHINKING RACIAL REALISM: A FUTURE FOR REPARATIONS?¹

UNTHINKING RACIAL REALISM: A FUTURE FOR REPARATIONS?¹

At the bar of conscience: A Kantian argument for slavery reparations

Reparations After Identity Politics

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The Case for Reparations

Cited by 4 publications

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UNTHINKING RACIAL REALISM: A FUTURE FOR REPARATIONS?1

UNTHINKING RACIAL REALISM: A FUTURE FOR REPARATIONS?1

At the bar of conscience: A Kantian argument for slavery reparations

Reparations After Identity Politics

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UNTHINKING RACIAL REALISM: A FUTURE FOR REPARATIONS?¹

UNTHINKING RACIAL REALISM: A FUTURE FOR REPARATIONS?¹