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Theory of Social Justice and Involuntary Resettlement: Evidence from India |
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Madhu Bala |
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The ‘Theory of Social Justice’ as propounded by Rawls is about fairness, involving as it does the ideas of original position, the veil of ignorance and the derivation of two principles of justice. He understands the need to ensure that the holders of private property adhere to certain minimum standards in their relation with the other beneficiaries of society. He emphasizes the importance of egalitarianism and distributive justice. Sen and Nussbaum have elaborated further on this theory and emphasized the capability approach. However, the focus of this article is whether these concepts of the Theory of Social Justice have any relevance to the issue of involuntary resettlement, particularly when we argue for distributive justice, land for land in the case of land acquisition, and the evaluation of both the pre- and post-development stages in executing development projects. This article attempts to examine this relationship with reference to India. |
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