Constrained Agency, Social Practices, and Responsibility for Structural Injustice

This paper explores the relationship between freedom, responsibility, and agency within the context of structural injustices, drawing on the work of Iris Marion Young and Sally Haslanger. Young's theory of structural injustice highlights the complex, long-term nature of harms that cannot be attributed to individual actors or specific policies but instead result from systemic forces. She critiques backward-looking liability models and advocates for a forward-looking political responsibility, emphasizing collective action to address these injustices. Haslanger’s analysis of social practices as sites for social intervention offers a valuable supplement to Young's theory by expanding our understanding of political responsibility. Social practices, which shape and are shaped by social systems, enable coordination and can be sites for addressing structural injustices. By integrating Haslanger’s perspective, this paper proposes a more robust vision of political responsibility, emphasizing collective intervention to confront structural injustices like economic inequality, climate change, gender-based violence, and segregation.