Ethics in an Age of Savage Inequalities by James J. Winchester

Reviewed by: Ethics in an Age of Savage Inequalities by James J. Winchester Lauren E. Eastwood Winchester, James J. Ethics in an Age of Savage Inequalities. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2015. Drawing on Jonathan Kozol's notion of "savage inequalities," Winchester's analysis of the ethics of current global dynamics associated with disparities between the poor and the wealthy engages with a range of points that have become only more topical and pressing since the publication of Ethics in an Age of Savage Inequalities. As Winchester notes, global inequalities have been the focus of many multilateral organizations, academic think tanks, and individual academics' analyses. Solutions to the problems caused by inequalities have been proposed by a range of institutions and individuals. However, not only do inequalities persist, but they are becoming more pronounced as we have seen the rise of the multi-billionaire and the increasing polarization of wealth. Not only is this remarked upon as problematic by academics and aid agencies, but even the IMF—an organization that Winchester addresses in his book—has noted that global inequalities are on the rise. However, unlike the IMF, Winchester approaches the dynamic not from the perspective of the neoliberal economic model, but the perspective well-grounded in the philosophical tradition of engagement with ethics. Within this tradition, one speaks not of freeing up markets (although Winchester does address the role of subsidies and trade barriers in maintaining or exacerbating inequalities). Instead, one speaks of such things as "responsibility," "obligation," and "duty." In important ways, Winchester carves out an argument that those who, by the luck of the draw, have been born into economic privilege, have an obligation and moral responsibility to those who have been born into poverty. Addressing a range of ethical theorists, and placing his arguments firmly within the field, Winchester solidly establishes the framework for his book within the first chapter. Not only does he engage with other theories of justice, and not only does he explain why some arguments are more compelling to him than others, but he makes the case for viewing global inequalities as falling within the realm of the moral obligation of those of us who are relatively far more privileged. This argument requires a substantial set up, as it flies in the face of [End Page 172] standard understandings of wealth and poverty. Most typically, given the dominance of particular economic and social models, wealth and poverty are relegated to the realm of individual responsibility, but not in the sense that Winchester explores. Instead, the dominant way of viewing wealth and poverty is to view both as being entirely contingent on individual actions. Rather than seeing larger institutions and systems as organizing individuals' access to resources, the tendency is to attribute poverty to individual failings, and wealth to individual successes. Instead, Winchester analyzes the fact that most access to resources (or lack thereof) is organized simply by luck (or misfortune) of birth. While he does not discount structural dynamics in creating and maintaining inequalities, they are not the focus of Winchester's analysis. Unlike Kozol, from whom he draws the phrase "savage inequalities," Winchester does not set out with the task of arguing that institutions need to change in order for the injustices of inequalities to be addressed. While he clearly addresses institutions and organizations—and their role in perpetuating or mitigating inequalities—his goal is to build up evidence to support his argument that those who experience relative economic privilege have a moral obligation to those who do not. In this way, Ethics in an Age of Savage Inequalities complements other works that tend to argue that the locus of change must extend beyond the individual if we are to see a more just world. Using specific examples related to trade agreements, foreign aid, United Nations' policy frameworks, and the impacts of a changing climate, among many others, Winchester situates his central arguments in the complex and shifting issues of our times. In his chapter on environmental justice, for example, he engages with the injustices that are exposed by the climate crisis—from the inequalities in responsibility for creating the problem of greenhouse gas emissions, to the drastic inequalities experienced by those

Duty · Inequality · Obligation · Political science · Sociology · Economic Theory and Institutions · Income, Poverty, and Inequality · Law · Russia and Soviet political economy