Social Theory and Practice

Volume 36, Issue 2, April 2010

Todd Calder
Pages 263-290

Shared Responsibility, Global Structural Injustice, and Restitution

This paper argues that even the most virtuous people living in affluent Western countries share responsibility for injustices suffered by poor people living in developing countries. The argument of the paper draws on a moral principle that underlies the law of restitution: the principle of unjust enrichment. The paper argues that denizens of affluent Western countries have benefited unjustly from injustices suffered by poor people living in developing countries and that they have a moral responsibility to pay back their unjust gains.