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Vulnerability theory offers an alternative to social-contract and rights-based paradigms. Beginning with the corporeal body, the theory argues we are inevitably and constantly dependent on social institutions that are generated (and ideally monitored) through law. Accordingly, vulnerability theory argues for a state attentive to the needs of the universally 'vulnerable subject'.
Based on lectures at Trinity College Dublin that focused on four foundational concepts, this book highlights how vulnerability theory differs from individualistic liberal frameworks.
Calling for a reorientation of law toward a collective responsibility-based approach, it is essential reading for anyone interested in political theory, social justice, and sociolegal scholarship.
“These Trinity Lectures provide a compelling account of the radical possibilities that can come from centring our universal experience of vulnerability in our ethical, legal, and political thought and action. This is needed now more than ever.” Michael Thomson, University of Technology Sydney and University of Leeds
“I highly recommend this book to all readers who are interested in a theory where the family and the need for care are understood to be at the centre of a society's wellbeing." Titti Mattsson, Lund University
Preface
1. Feminist Origins of Vulnerability Theory
2. Lecture 1 – Reasoning From the Body
3. Lecture 2 – Social Justice
4. Lecture 3 – Injury
5. Lecture 4 – Inevitable Inequality
6. Institutionalizing the Individual