The Limits of Liberal Justice: Normative Constraints on Groups-rights Claims in Australia

The Limits of Liberal Justice addresses important scholarly debates and public policy issues, discussing conceptual and political problems at the heart of Australian liberal democracy. Taking the recent debates over liberal and communitarian political philosophy as the object of inquiry, the book explores the social and political character of multiculturalism and indigenous rights movements in Australia?s political culture. Cutting across the complex terrain of the many forms of claims for recognition, cultural protections and group-specific rights, the book argues that the point is not whether we should accept or reject the claims of diversity tout court. Rather we should use the protocols of the Rawlsian ?justice as fairness' to discern and differentiate between acceptable and unacceptable claims. Covering interesting and important aspects of the theories of citizenship, especially political liberalism, and the extent to which they help to formulate an understanding of pluralism in relation to political stability and justice, this book will prove useful reading for students and anyone interested in Rawlsian liberalism and social justice.