Social Justice and Deliberative Politics : Why Martha Nussbaum's Capabilities Approach Needs a Deliberative Proceduralism as Normative Grounding

Abstract

In this thesis the primary task has been to explore the potentials in Martha Nussbaum’s capabilities approach, especially in terms of how she balances norms requiring respect for cultural diversity and individual choice with the need to challenge the effects of unjust social power. I find in Nussbaum’s approach a good alternative to others, such as utilitarian welfare theories and Rawls’s justice as fairness theory. Still, it could be improved by the addition of justificatory and, hence, procedural resources. In this respect, I argue that a normative grounding in a Habermasian model of deliberative politics would be the best alignment.