Rachel Z. Friedman's "Probable Justice: Risk, Insurance, and the Welfare State"

Session Submission Type: Virtual Author meet critics

Session Description

Social insurance is a response to a fundamental political problem: the vulnerability of justice to chance. The panel will discuss “Probable Justice” (University of Chicago Press), Rachel Z. Friedman’s recent contribution to the field of risk and politics. In the book, Friedman explains how social insurance became one of the central distributive mechanisms in liberal democratic states. Focusing on mathematical probability theory, she argues that social insurance is a distributive regime that necessarily combines a commitment to individual liberty or autonomy, on the one hand, and to social equality or solidarity, on the other. This capacity to accommodate distinct purposes helps to account for the political resilience of social insurance, as well as for the persistence of certain confusions and disagreements about the welfare state. Against some modern theories of distributive justice, most notably that of John Rawls, and in keeping with recent accounts of the political economy of the welfare state, the book contends that social insurance cannot do away with risk without altering its basic character or appeal. Any theoretical account must therefore reckon with the nature and complexities of that concept and the probability values that define it.

Bringing together diverse perspectives, including normative political theory, American political development, history of political thought, and quantitative social science, the panel will reflect on the current state of the field of risk and politics. Panelists will expand on the book’s place in current debates, its contribution to the study of existing problems, and new directions it opens for further research.

Sub Unit

• Division 1: Political Thought and Philosophy

Chair

• Roni Hirsch Harvard University

Presenters

• Karen Orren University of California, Los Angeles

• Michael J. Sandel Harvard University

• Emily Nacol University of Toronto

• Torben Iversen Harvard University

• Bernardo Zacka Massachusetts Institute of Technology

• Rachel Friedman Tel Aviv University