Reconsidering Reparations

Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Georgetown University. He works on social/political philosophy and ethics, with an emphasis on figures and themes from anticolonial, anticapitalist, and Black radical traditions.

Moderator is Ayelet Shachar, R.F. Harney Chair in Ethnic, Immigration and Pluralism Studies, Munk School

Most theorizing about reparations treats it as a social justice project - either rooted in reconciliatory justice focused on making amends in the present; or, they focus on the past, emphasizing restitution for historical wrongs. Táíwò will argue that neither approach is optimal, and advance a different case for reparations rooted in distributive justice, which he refers to as the "constructive" view of reparations.  Táíwò will also present some of what he takes to be the political and policy implications of this view.