The Scope of Justice

The scope of justice is a useful construct that calls our attention to justice beliefs that are often
implicit. Morton Deutsch (1985) describes justice as applicable only in a limited set of
situations, specifically “social relations or social systems in which there is perceived to be at
least a minimal degree of actual, normatively expected or potential cooperation” (p. 37). Having
a narrow scope of justice, therefore, will result in a narrow set of situations in which one’s
thinking and behavior will be governed by considerations of justice. Deutsch postulates a close
relationship between cooperation and justice. Although he does not name factors that could
change the scope for justice, this is a question I pursue in my research.

People or places that are within the scope of justice are morally included and are viewed
as entitled to rights and resources […] moral inclusion is: (1) the belief that considerations of
fairness apply to a person, group, or place; (2) the willingness to allocate a share of community
resources to protect that person, group, or place; and (3) the willingness to make sacrifices to
foster their well-being . . . considering what is just for others and enacting it through fair resource
allocations—even when doing so may incur cost to oneself—is consistent with moral inclusion.

People or places that are outside the scope of justice are morally excluded. They can be
viewed as nonentities and unworthy of rights, resources, or society’s legal protections and are
therefore vulnerable to exploitation and harm. Excluded individuals or groups may lack such
public goods as clean air and water, quality education and health care, and housing and worker
safety codes. Excluded places can be exploited for their resources or serve as dumps for
industrial waste. Because moral exclusion is justified as deserved, normal, and “the way things
are” or “the way they ought to be,” people, groups, or places outside the scope of justice may be
harmed without raising alarms, a sense of outrage, or calls for redress as the harm they
experience may be normalized, invisible, and seem inevitable.

Susan Opotow