Throwback Thursday: Michael Walzer

Walzer throwback style

If you haven’t read Michael Walzer’s 1983 book Spheres of Justice: A Defense of Pluralism and Equality, put it on your summer reading list. I myself am grateful to immprofs Steve Legomsky and David Martin for introducing me to it some years ago.

Walzer is a political theorist and moral philosopher. In Spheres of Justice, he tackles “distributive justice,” that is, how goods of every kind can and should be allocated worldwide. 

Chapter two of his book is particularly important for immprofs. It considers “membership” from a distributive justice perspective. The discussion includes assessment of immigration restrictions as justified elements of community building and membership identification. He writes:

The members of a political community have a collective right to shape the resident population…

That right is not unbounded. Walzer outlines obligations owed to current members and “mutual aid” (think refugees).

-KitJ