Justice and The Politics of Difference

Embedded in welfare capitalist society are three value-based or normative principles that distinguish it from laissez-faire capitalism. First, it is assumed that economic activity should be “collectively regulated for the purposes of maximizing the collective welfare” (67). Private business benefits the most from this regulation, with government investing in research, transportation, and the education of the workforce. Second, while there is disagreement about the amount of the social safety net, it is accepted that the government is obligated to ensure the basic needs of citizens when the private sector fails to do so: Programs such as food stamps and welfare are examples. Third, formal equality and impersonal procedures are favored over arbitrary and personal authority. These principles help to legitimate capitalism, as people receive material benefits, and to “create favorable conditions for production and accumulation” (69). While welfare capitalism is more humane than its laissez-faire predecessor, it depoliticizes public life: Conflicts are limited to distributive issues, with the system and ends of government taken as givens.

The competition for material benefits takes the form of interest group politics or pluralism. That form of politics not only advantages wealthy and business interests but also draws no distinctions between selfish interests, such as the meat industry, and normative claims of justice, such as those fighting against animal abuse or climate change.