Structural transformation and reparative obligation: Reinterpreting the beneficiary pays principle

Unredressed injustices in national and global history raise important normative questions. These questions are highlighted by the growing chorus of voices in public and academic discourse calling for agents, especially those in the Global North, to recognize and redress the major injustices of their past, most notably colonialism, chattel slavery, and segregation.1 One is the justification question: do (some) present-day agents have moral obligations to redress historical injustice, and if so, on what moral grounds? Another is the content question: assuming that reparative obligations are justified, what exactly do they obligate (some) present-day agents to do? One prominent view in the philosophical literature responding to these questions is centered on the Beneficiary Pays Principle (BPP).2 Proponents of the BPP have argued that some present-day agents have a moral obligation to redress historical injustices that they themselves did not commit because they enjoy material benefits—wealth, property, and other such resources—as a result of these injustices. Since these benefits were originally acquired unjustly, their contemporary inheritors ought to relinquish them, not just because they lack any legitimate claim to these resources, but also because by retaining these resources they are perpetuating the effects of injustice. This answers the justification question. The BPP also suggests an answer to the content question. While some present-day agents enjoy material benefits from historical injustices, others correspondingly suffer material harms.3 It is thus morally legitimate to redistribute the relinquished resources of present-day beneficiaries of a historical injustice toward its present-day victims—even if that redistribution can only partially approximate the holdings that present-day victims would have enjoyed had the historical injustice never occurred.4 Altogether, the BPP offers an account of one familiar approach to past wrongdoing, namely the provision of material compensation or reparations. Indeed, proponents of the BPP contend that the principle is appealing because it avoids many of the thorny moral and epistemic challenges against reparations for major historical injustices.5 But reparations, so understood, is notably removed from a more radical approach to historical injustice proposed by some recent social movements for racial equality and postcolonial global justice. These proposals demand the egalitarian transformation of present-day social structures in order to undo the unjust social, political, and economic legacies of colonialism, slavery, segregation, and so forth.6 In alignment with this vision, some philosophical accounts have argued for a structural approach to historical injustice: because many present-day injustices are products of major historical injustices like colonialism and slavery, a full and proper remedy to such historical injustices requires addressing present-day injustices which are their structural legacies.7 The structural approach thus argues for the content of present-day reparative obligations to structural injustices that The structural the justification and in of these reparative These are most on in account of for structural injustice. argues that present-day agents have a moral obligation to structural injustices they in the social structures that because is what the social structures that structural injustices, are for that these structures are more just But this of an approach to historical injustice. it is to more just social structures to historical injustices that the obligation to such structural transformation is by present-day in unjust social by a moral to historical it for which agents have this from a historical this an obligation to present-day structural injustices in some in unjust social This obligation thus in to present-day of victims and of historical injustices, for the of and But the victims are the to redress for historical injustice is the redress to it is to these the structural approach to an answer to the justification question. This a view in the historical injustice that to from the reparations approach and the structural approach their this view The is a of the BPP and some present-day agents can to from major historical injustices. that the benefits are not material resources like and but of and contemporary social structures which are the legacies of historical injustices like colonialism and these benefits have reparative obligations to redress those historical injustices. Since these benefits relinquished and the content of these reparative obligations a material redistribution in beneficiaries these and social structures structural thus have reparative obligations to and egalitarian structural is thus with the reparations approach on the justification and in of reparative obligations present-day agents by appealing to the but it is with the structural approach by the content of those obligations in of addressing present-day structural injustices. this the the reparations and the structural is not some have present-day beneficiaries structural because they have reparative obligations to the unjust benefits of major historical injustices. This other that have to the and structural by appealing to the of agents, for the for historical The the reparations on the and argues that the the of moral in major historical injustices their structural the structural approach and that its of historical injustices, accounts lack a justification for the structural they and thus an approach to historical injustice. and argues that it can these to one from the structural approach and the other from the reparations this a for the philosophical and historical injustice are and The justification present-day agents do in have moral obligations to redress historical a and of the the content is to those moral assuming that they are morally in an one that philosophical is not to answer with especially if structural is on the The not to a answer to these questions. The more is to the if the BPP is a principle for reparative obligations to present-day agents, and if major historical injustices like colonialism and have had structural is a view that the reparations and structural to historical injustice their questions the of philosophical of reparations. to Pays and Pays which agents have moral obligations to reparations for historical injustices, and which agents Pays is a to answer for historical injustices the are which the for reparative obligations did so is to present-day what exactly is the and of compensation for historical is a for historical injustices because accounts of compensation are to to injustices that for reparations to morally and Pays and to the justification and content most and have proposed the BPP an answer to is that present-day enjoy the material benefits of historical injustices, acquired property, and other such resources, have reparative obligations to relinquish these resources so that these resources can to the victims of historical injustices and their These reparative obligations are because present-day beneficiaries of historical injustices have moral claim to resources that were acquired by unjust by retaining these resources, present-day beneficiaries the unjust effects of past past thus requires that beneficiaries relinquish these The BPP thus offers these answers to Pays and the present-day beneficiaries of historical injustices are to for material reparations, and what they are to is the of material benefits that they have a result of these historical injustices. These answers questions and One is to exactly from historical injustices and to what This is for major historical injustices, the economic effects of which were argues that the of of the economic in a from the and in the to major of the for and The of these had effects of their by the in to some from of the can other major historical injustices like economic effects that from historical injustices with any is a in most The of the BPP would to to a of namely the of or resources are and of those or resources have a assuming that the present-day beneficiaries can appealing to material benefits the BPP to a to the of reparations for major historical injustices. one many a view of benefits an benefits is from an with their of is it would have had the not This view of a to reparations, namely that major historical injustices if not of the for by economic and a have in in such some are morally that these would they would have had these historical injustices never Proponents of the BPP these of are on and the view can by a morally the beneficiaries ought to relinquish resources for if some victims have and so these are is a for but the important is that the because the BPP to material benefits to reparative is a the of the BPP a of historical injustice. The is that the of benefits not to the that of the victims suffer a of have and to and that one would to an of redress to the This to the that the of agents that the unjust for that the can in the other to to the of it that the material benefits of some present-day agents from what they did with these resources, the resources In such those material benefits for historical this of the claim that the resources of some present-day agents the of historical these one that the BPP is not a answer to historical some have the BPP is the of the reparations reparations for major historical injustices are and to a more these with the BPP can by the of historical injustice. accounts of the BPP from an of major historical injustices such colonialism and that in the are to a structural approach to historical injustice have those the toward a of the BPP that it from these the that these historical injustices are in such that the and effects of these injustices to are of this the remedy to historical injustice the of the and benefits of of past the and benefits and their in present-day material and that those holdings are to the victims for the of historical injustice. to a injustice, on this with past and with present-day This on the of resources the many of historical injustices, in many accounts by victims of their colonialism and but a the of and in a one of this of the of of by the of a that on in and the in the of colonialism a a to and a a of an other in the a the of the and the of in the of in the what the moral of by and its of material a that the of These are not of they to moral like social and and that to the and of social movements for racial equality and postcolonial global that the victims of historical injustices have some the of these one that historical injustices like colonialism, slavery, and and in the that major historical injustices like colonialism and are past the with the of the of that they This is a view of These injustices did not one only a of material in present-day structures and which were by these injustices and in some of argues that the of colonialism in the only an of in which to colonialism the the from to to present-day that some of and that to the of a by These a of major injustices that the in which like colonialism and have had and structural the of the victims of historical injustice and the of its not just in resources in the past but also in structural injustices to the what reparations are an of the that ought to on a view of historical injustice. In are compensation for a of racial injustices but not the of their In to their the of major historical injustices, of the BPP to do to their The and benefits of major historical injustices material the and structural legacies of these injustices the that it is to of past These the BPP to an view of the content of reparative obligations for major historical injustices, namely that present-day beneficiaries ought to relinquish the resources they to past But what can to redress these historical This to an of what historical injustice the structural The structural approach a more of redress for historical injustices. this the proper to historical injustice is not material resources but contemporary unjust social this its proponents in the This the structural approach by the of its and While they important historical injustice can and in that material redistribution content that of these and in present-day agents ought to redress historical injustice in these justification In account of for structural injustice, that many contemporary injustices not because of the of agents but to the of of in structures and their of to in these because to agents are in the of for the social that these unjust these the of a of this what the social on this in the and of structural with unjust a to to those The social is its is to agents in unjust social structures to in order to structural and agents for their past its a this view an approach to historical injustice. that its is to more just social structures the social the of historical injustice, of past answers that it In injustices in which the victims are can never the only of that present-day agents for historical injustices like is to that these injustices are in the injustices only the social in an epistemic and for structural transformation requires to the and the are those structures have and to most In redress for historical injustices proper in of unjust social structures this view in account of global and for colonialism and other major injustices in the social in important for argues that agents to their to unjust social structures are for this and can reparative obligations to victims of past in which those unjust social structures were thus the and of to these in that in the victims are the only of present-day agents is to that these in order to of and contemporary of proper account redress for major historical injustices such the victims are redress for historical injustices by the of unjust social structures for which is by contemporary agents in it to the structural of many contemporary injustices, the social an approach to historical injustice. The its which in view or unjust structures can a of redress for historical injustice. It is that can for the victims of past major historical injustices like colonialism and have had effects on social their on the historical of social agents a to contemporary social structures so that they are more of this the of structural legacies of One that unjust structures is a of historical injustices, in the just material reparations to the effects of historical injustices, structural can a of the of historical injustices on social structural can a and addressing the structural legacies of historical injustices that unjust for The the of in the social the social agents in unjust social structures have a to in of their in structural are agents suffer from and contemporary agents from the unjust social structures which are the structural legacies of historical injustices. Indeed, the of beneficiaries in a structural injustice contemporary agents in an unjust social from of enjoy social that are by structural injustices are morally by those those suffer structural that are from past injustices are in a The social thus what one a of agents, of they are in unjust social are for structural their in these its for the of unjust social that this is to the of historical injustices. the social some of the for structural would on the agents in a result of the structural legacies of historical injustices. But those agents not the of addressing the structural legacies of historical injustices that are the agents to redress is if a claim to redress for historical injustices, it would the agents are to the structural legacies of those injustices. this claim would other agents, agents are not by the structural legacies of historical to agents in from these The social of thus to what like a in of redress for historical injustice: present-day agents to redress is they suffer the effects of historical and present-day agents such In of the beneficiaries and victims of historical injustice in a structural injustice But it is to this with that some agents social others structural to the structural legacies of historical injustices. to by in unjust social structures is to enjoy if those structures are in historical injustices, it is not to that agents have from historical injustices. for the of benefits is on of reparations that to material the are in which and to what present-day agents from historical But the benefits of historical injustice not in such in many of these and and have proposed a of the structural approach that a more and the and of reparations for historical The is an to the of that agents, most notably the can for historical injustices that these agents the structural of unjust their for but these agents thus have a to present-day suffer a result of these unjust structural a that the of reparative obligations to for the structural the of structural is in a view of history that the of social structures to that history in of such a major historical injustices like and colonialism can to the the social structures these injustices have and to unjust for what In and accounts an structural answer to Pays for agents like the because they have structural their historical in the of unjust social This of the structural approach offers a more view on the of redress for historical injustices the social and that of historical injustice it that historical injustices can a of reparative obligations they have had structural effects that to unjust for present-day These reparative obligations are they are agents have a in the structural of historical injustices. this the of structural by these agents can a of redress for historical injustices for the present-day agents suffer from their structural this the social this view to the the of reparative obligations present-day It that by reparative obligations on the and other agents, this view avoids such obligations to the present-day victims of the structural legacies of historical injustices But a the a reparative obligation is on a like the is an the and its and answer that in for an obligation of the reparative obligations its reparative obligations their obligations to the a can to these that they have a to and such structural to their social to these unjust social view thus the social a justification for the reparative obligations to These answers to the of the social It that for a historical injustice like the of the victims of the injustice present-day are of the that that injustice, those have reparative obligations But the structural for is not by but to that they have the of its structural and structural approach thus a did the social a of reparative obligations to the agents unjust structural the the structural approach a justification for reparative one that would more to the that the structural legacies of historical injustices have not present-day This a view that to these with the reparations approach and the structural this view is a of the that the of the BPP is that present-day agents enjoy the benefits of historical injustices have reparative obligations to relinquish those benefits to present-day agents have by those injustices. accounts have the BPP to for the redistribution and of property, and other material resources, on the effects of historical injustice. that the principle a from a moral benefits of historical injustices ought to relinquished and to the these injustices have This is an important for the benefits of major historical injustices are not material in by the structural historical injustices have contemporary social structures in that and unjust for These structural injustices do not structural injustices social of of or of the to and their the that these others to or to have a of for and to In other is structural injustice, some agents of and social other agents that to These can in of or on the unjust social structures are In the global for are the agents that the structural the Global In in a unjust like the to structural in of their by the that and the on of and and In present-day agents are in unjust social to the structural legacies of major historical injustices. contend that such of and are a structural of historical injustices. a of and a for the it some an especially for those to benefits in of material But this is a familiar if to a of in which can more that benefits if the not with a raise of can from a more more a social of material resources with that this of suggests a more radical of the contemporary agents enjoy structural that of and ought to relinquish these benefits for reparative This is the of to is to to the questions that the reparations Pays the justification and the content it to the the answer to Pays any other contemporary agents have from historical injustice have reparative obligations to relinquish is more the of structural a redistribution of material resources to the victims of historical injustice. benefits are not material that beneficiaries and they are social of and that they enjoy in of their structural to These are by and social structures that and to relinquish their structural present-day beneficiaries would have to and the structural is other to relinquish structural thus the the structural namely to present-day structural injustices structural But the structural this a namely the to the structural to these structural benefits is a question. one It argued that the of have a global their in the political, and which a of In its economic the of and resources from by of to that is a material redistribution a of compensation for colonialism would and so the resources from the to the is like more to a the to this by the economic for the and the that the of in the of the global is exactly the of that and to they ought to an to structures and to in the global more just have a reparative obligation to do so because their global economic is a structural of colonialism, a major historical injustice that the contemporary global relinquish that structural they the structures and that and their this is to and such structural with is an and question. But the important is that the that of structural transformation a of reparations. the that with the reparations and the structural that the reparations approach to the present-day beneficiaries of historical injustice, to to the that of victims have from historical injustices, and to to the that the of historical injustice more to the and of the unjust of an answer to of these have that present-day beneficiaries and victims can because material benefits and had effects on many agents an economic effects that is from a historical injustice and to what those benefits can to past avoids this because it to the not benefits of historical injustice: the of and social in of and are more it is more to that structural in historical injustices to that this more material resources because their that racial in the from to to that have These also an answer to if the of victims of historical injustices did in from these that claim not the that some present-day agents have reparative obligations to those In the moral of redress for historical injustices is not in of material benefits and but on the of structural that some agents structural injustices have material but the on this view is not the material effects of unjust social structures but the structures more the of and the agents these from colonialism is thus the many have it is that these in in the global that the benefits of historical injustice more to the and of the unjust is a only the that the benefits are material in the is to the structural benefits to structural like or a Global this agents such structural to have these These on a of and of economic and other structural that agents do not The of a in a unjust for are not an of that and these are to their in the racial of the a that by historical injustices like and an for the structural benefits they have to their structural to the structural to the obligation to structural in a that such the of historical injustice, and to reparative obligations the the to reparations are and the reparations. an answer to a structural redress because such to undo the unjust legacies by major historical injustices, in the structural benefits that some agents enjoy a result of historical injustices. This is from the of material reparations, namely that the of material resources from present-day beneficiaries to victims is to the unjust effects of past that but a of unjust the structural effects of historical injustices. that this answer is to because it reparative obligations the which is a it that some present-day agents have reparative obligations because the benefits they enjoy from past and thus to the structural not that contemporary agents have reparative obligations in of their social or that to the present-day agents are beneficiaries of historical injustices have reparative obligations to their of structural thus the that reparations are to agents from other agents in of of and to the structural approach in which structural is the of agents their in unjust social structures or their in a to the view is to only to a of historical injustice, namely those that have had a and on social structures and that of injustices. have some to that major historical injustices like colonialism and this that claim what can not claim that present-day beneficiaries are the only agents have a moral obligation to and structural proponents of the structural approach have contemporary agents, not just those enjoy structural have a to the unjust social structures that injustice. argues that in social some agents have reparative obligations to the structural legacies of historical injustices their of structural can for a present-day structural that a and to present-day structural beneficiaries of historical injustices. those agents, structural transformation is a reparative it is a one from the reparations approach and the structural This what to the most from Proponents of the reparations approach to for its of material that historical injustices were not they material on their material compensation a of reparations thus an important of historical injustice. it to that some present-day agents do enjoy material benefits to historical injustices, if these benefits is that the it demand that these material benefits ought to relinquished of reparations. for material reparations are important in historical and contemporary social movements for racial and global in to structural these any view that material redistribution of its reparative is to But not material it is the on and compensation that philosophical of reparations. the of reparations is to the effects of historical injustice, reparations not just of resources but also social structures and that to unjust for social of structural proposals that a of material redistribution or have The important of the structural approach is that such are only one of a of redress for historical injustices and their structural Indeed, structural a material redistribution to in a structural social structures a global in that is in material that is The more moral is to undo and the structural legacies of historical injustice. This of material redistribution is a familiar in philosophical of reparations. argues that the of historical injustice is the of of and social the material is one important by which these can the in which in the of material redistribution on what it would to any material holdings had the injustice never in reparations is what and what it for such reparations to is that they to from a what in reparations is to undo the structural legacies of major historical injustices. In this more redistribution It is to the of unjust social structures and but it is that such can more a redistribution of a of that is a of this more of material But such proposals have some by for the more on the Proponents of the structural approach that reparative obligations to the of benefits with those the One is that requires structural beneficiaries from This is question. the claim that some enjoy structural benefits to their is and what exactly racial the these the of and so for to a with one and one is that if these can structural benefits are not these for that they have structural benefits in of their Indeed, they the of structural benefits that are are the it is that the of structural benefits questions. But answers to questions like is are not to that some agents are structural beneficiaries of historical racial injustices. to is structural such that some are others are and and this is to the legacies of historical racial are and it that that such is with of these not in a social structures and is a the of the on their and the social such a in in a social and in others in a such is or to the of they would have reparative obligations to the social structures that them, also reparations for the structural they The is that not a view of structural that structural benefits and are and that the content of a reparative obligations for the that of a can of a this only a for if structural benefits are in not such a social structures by that more for agents in a that this have this that an structural benefits is to that they are more to do a of morally other agents the of structural and not the claim that social structures structural benefits on some agents have argued that offers a more of answers to the justification and content questions in the historical injustice this present-day agents enjoy structural benefits from major historical injustices like and colonialism have reparative obligations to and structural in order to the unjust structural legacies of these historical injustices. what is is a transformation of and structures which to a in social and economic and of and in have from the and of and and and do their in to and for their and also for from the the the for in the and and the on and the of The of is a in the of on the of and social with a on the of structural injustice. in and

Fetched live from OpenAlex and de-inverted. Abstracts are not stored in this database: the inverted indexes are 8.6 GB of the frame’s 9.3 GB of text, and the host has 13 GB free.