Cited by 429Political Philosophy and EthicsDiscrimination and Equality LawLegal Rights and Human Rights

The DOI matches its Crossref record, with a small difference in title or year; none of the 20 sources its claims cite is checked for support yet.

The vulnerable subject: anchoring equality in the human condition

Open access
MARTHA ALBERTSON FINEMAN·2010·Transcending the Boundaries of Law

Abstract

In this chapter I develop the concept of vulnerability in order to argue for a more responsive state and a more egalitarian society. I argue that vulnerability is universal and constant, inherent in the human condition. The vulnerability approach I propose is an alternative to traditional equal protection analysis; it moves us beyond identity-based inquiries because it focuses not only on discrimination against defined groups, but is concerned with the privileges conferred on limited segments of the population by the state through its institutions. Therefore, vulnerability analyses concentrate on our social structures and institutions established to manage our common vulnerabilities. This approach has the potential to move us beyond the confines of current discrimination-based models toward a more substantive vision of equality. Theorizing a concept of vulnerability necessitates developing a more complex subject around which to build social policy and law; this new subject is useful in redefining and expanding current ideas about state responsibility toward individuals and institutions. In fact, I argue that the “vulnerable subject” must replace the autonomous and independent subject asserted in the liberal tradition. Far more representative of actual lived experience and the human condition, the vulnerable subject should be at the center of our political and theoretical endeavors. The vision of the state that would emerge in such an engagement would be more responsive to and responsible for the vulnerable subject, a reimagining that is essential to attaining a more equal society than currently exists in America. Before developing the vulnerability thesis, I will address some conceptual impediments to the idea of a more responsive state. First, an impoverished sense of equality is embedded in our current legal doctrine. We understand equality in formal terms, focused on discrimination and inattentive to underlying societal inequities. Second, the view that the state’s proper role is one of restraint and abstention is politically powerful. Even self-identified progressive social reformers are suspicious of the state; the rhetoric of non-intervention prevails in policy discussions, deterring positive measures designed to address inequalities. We idealize contract and correspondingly reify individual choice in ways that mask society’s role in perpetuating inequality. The fact that societal institutions play a significant role in perpetrating inequality is the very reason that we need a more active and responsive state.

Overview

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.4324/9780203848531-26

Cites

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Nothing to recompute.

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Claims the paper makes

79 Own interpretation · 20 Sources not found

Show all 37 claims

  • Probably not a substantial claim. 54
  • It may state two separate claims as one. 25
62 of 62
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The state is an appropriate actor to ensure equality.

    “The state, in exercising its unique role as the creator of legitimate social organizations susceptible to its ongoing coercive authority, should assume a corresponding responsibility to see that these organizations operate in an equitable manner.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The sub-prime mortgage crisis affected white and middle-class people as well as those in the traditional suspect categories.

    “The sub-prime mortgage crisis affected white and middle-class people as well as those in the traditional suspect categories.”
  • The paper relies on this without support.

    Institutions are simultaneously constituted by and producers of vulnerability.

    “Because institutions are simultaneously constituted by and producers of vulnerability, we must continually challenge these institutional practices and the meting of social resources.”
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Metadata

Authors
FINEMAN, M. A.
Corresponding author
MARTHA ALBERTSON FINEMAN
Venue
Transcending the Boundaries of Law
Published
2010-07-12
Pages
177-191
OpenAlex
W3121891619
Cited by
429
References
0
Citations by year
2026: 13 · 2025: 15 · 2024: 12 · 2023: 10 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 46 · 2020: 51 · 2019: 68 · 2018: 39 · 2017: 37 · 2016: 28 · 2015: 19 · 2014: 15 · 2013: 23 · 2012: 23
FWCI
216.52
Type
book chapter
Language
en
Open access
Locations
Routledge eBooks (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Political Philosophy and Ethics
  • Social Sciences › Law › Discrimination and Equality Law
  • Social Sciences › Law › Legal Rights and Human Rights
Keywords
vulnerability, vulnerable subjects, equality, equal protection, substantive equality, state responsibility, liberalism, individualism, institutional inequality, social policy, non-interventionism, contract theory

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