Introduction

The discourse on social justice revolves around two primary questions: What are the ends of social justice we aspire toward? And what are the most effective means for pursuing those ends? In this context, this book advances two central theses: First, we argue that an expansive conception of contributive justice enables us to envision a common horizon — or ultimate end — toward which diverse movements for social justice are oriented. This expansive conception of contributive justice entails a set of social conditions that enable every individual and group to develop their latent potentialities and thereby contribute to the flourishing of the entire social body, from which their own flourishing ultimately derives. Second, we argue that, in this transitional period of human history, contentious means of pursuing social justice have reached a point of diminishing returns, and we now need to center radical constructive agency as a primary means of bringing about a more just social order in which every individual and group can develop their latent capacity to contribute. By radical constructive agency, we are referring to collective forms of agency that entail actively building new social and political forms capable of supplanting anachronistic ones — new social forms that address the root causes of injustice and oppression.