How to Make Opportunity Equal: Race and Contributive Justice

by
Paul Gomberg

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How To Make Opportunity Equal

From the Publisher

This critical examination of racial equality takes a new approach to breaking down racial barriers by proposing a system of equal opportunity through shared labor and contributive justice.

Focuses on how race and class inevitably structure vastly unequal life prospects
Shows how human society can be organized in a way that does not socialize children for lives of routine labour
Looks towards contribution, not distribution, as a way to promote racial equality
Argues that by sharing routine and complex labor, social relationships would be transformed, eliminating competition for limited opportunities to develop and contribute abilities

A discussion board for ideas and comments relating to the book can be found at: http://howtomakeopportunityequal.blogspot.com/

Biography

Paul Gomberg is Professor of Philosophy at Chicago State University. He has published widely in political philosophy, the history of philosophy, and on race in journals such as Ethics, American Philosophical Quarterly, and The Journal of Social Philosophy. His writing reflects his experience as an anti-racist activist and teacher.

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Details of Book:

How To Make Opportunity Equal

Book:
How to Make Opportunity Equal: Race and Contributive Justice
Author:Paul Gomberg
ISBN:1405160810
ISBN-13:9781405160810, 978-1405160810
Binding: Hardcover
Publishing Date: 2007-06-29
Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell
Number of Pages: 192 pages
Language: English

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Book Reviews of How to Make Opportunity Equal: Race and Contributive Justice

Contributive Justice

Contributive Justice sounds like a great idea. Much of this book is a critique of other interpretations of equality and theories about how to meliorate different outcomes that result from so called equal opportunity. Racism becomes a focus because minority groups, black groups are especially mentioned, are trained to aim for the labor intensive boring repetitious jobs. Instead of expecting to be Philosophy Professors too many are schooled and socialized to expect lives with little opportunity to contribute to the common good. They may even be raised to think their best contributions are those that harm the common good. I kept looking for reasons why this was not a defense of Communism and only note one suggestion that Marx was fooled by old market paradigms as well. The sections explaining how this might practically be achieved ran from periodically rebuilding parts of your old house that fall down (illegal in most places without permits and licenses) and doctors sweeping their own hospitals so those who would normally be doing that could practice brain surgery. Defenses against arguments that basically point out the silliness of this program are critiqued as being short sighted and suffering from a lack of imagination. Yet I had the pleasure of being in the Army for a career and recall well the structure which required all to pitch in to do the basic labor which did have the effect on morale that PG suggests it might but there were differences as this gradually changed as one ascended the ranks. There is also a social structure associated with specialties that still create a sort of class structure. And again this may not ameliorate the competition even though it creates teams of support and encouragement. You may not be competing with those in your unit but you are competing among those in your specialty Army wide. Nor does everyone stay for a career while no one can opt out of society short of drastic measures. So the services are not really the sort of ideal PG suggests might work. The suggestion that is the thesis of the book is interesting but seems unworkable. I suppose I just lack the vision necessary. But despite this difficulty the book presents an excellent survey of Rawls and other visions of distributive justice and I like the sound of contributive justice.

Give Opportunity a Philosophical Chance

I used Gomberg's book this past Fall (2008) in my introduction to ethics course. Given that the university theme this year is "Revolutions in Thought," this text was simply excellent. Most of the students were coming from a belief system that embraced a picture of capitalism being a wonderful framework from which to structure society. In sharp contrast, Gomberg presents a radical communitarian (communistic?) framework that is flat out incompatible with an individualistic capitalist framework (and various mixed communitarian accounts). Briefly, Gomberg argues that, since esteem is one of the central aspects of human psychology that needs to be fostered and developed in order to approach human well-being and a smoothly functioning society, a universal sharing of routine labor (no exceptions!) is morally mandatory so that members of society can enhance their skills at various kinds of complex labor. It is the development of skills associated with complex labor and the corresponding praise and support from one's peers, argues Gomberg, that secures self-esteem; that is, well-being. Importantly, Gomberg does not shy away from reminding the reader of the racial component to the many political, moral, and social problems that are present in our existing socio-economic system. Indeed, one of Gomberg's central contributions to philosophy in this text (beyond his notion of "contributive justice") is that modern political philosophy has ignored the issue of racism, rendering the field rather otiose with respect to practical social problems and theoretical accounts of justice.

The above account is only a mere sketch of Gomberg's ambitious project. I am confident that there is something of interest and of challenge to all those who have an interest in moral and political philosophy--scholars, students, and those who are simply interested thinkers. Most noteworthy for me as an educator is how accessible this text is. My first-year undergraduates were able to follow most of Gomberg's lines of reasoning (I know that the Rawls discussion was a bit tough for them, but a bit of hand-holding resolved this problem) and were quick to offer all sorts of objections--only to find out that Gomberg anticipated many of them as the analysis unfolded in later chapters. All in all, the students were engaged, frustrated, and impressed with that with which they were grappling. I recommend this text whole heartedly!!

What's The Point?

A deep question: Why not get a routine job and write philosophy books on the side?
Question: Is a mind numbing job better than no job?
Question: Isn't this something like the writings of Paul Goodman who was popular a couple of generations ago?
Thought: What if somebody doesn't want to do ANY job?
Conundrum: Why are some people who do less complex work making more money than others who do more complex work?
Question for the ages: Why are so many of the resentful ones who hate everything about the way modern life is organized the ones dealing with complex materials, i.e., university professors?
Historical question: Didn't Castro send professionals to work a certain number of days of the year in the sugar cane fields? Did this lead to a reduction of the resentment quotient in Cuban society?
Anecdote: I am white and joined an all black Caribbean church for three years. I have a great education and in fact went to graduate school with Prof. Gomberg for a number of years, but did not complete my degree. I loved all my friends in the church, and they loved me even though many had jobs like unpacking the food delivered to restaurant kitchens, atendant at a halfway house for troubled and/or delinquent boys, airline steward, construction helper, hospital support staff, home healthcare companions, registered nurses, barbers, owner/manager of a yellow bus company taking kids to and from school, etc. Which of the above jobs would be considered unrewarding? Even being a university professor has some boring duties attached to it.
Ultimate question: Could it be that this Communist "utopian" [sic] vision is just Jewish guilt writ large? If life is so lousy, why live?
Great finale: Why not direct genetic engineering towards the goal of making everyone college philosophy professors, and then create robots to do all the leg work, thereby replacing the proletariat?

A philosophy book that speaks to everyone

This is an original and compelling book which questions the basic assumptions of our society that lead to inequality. Though a philosophy book, it speaks to everyone, especially teachers. Using deceptively simple language and everyday examples, Gomberg builds a structurally sound argument for radically changing the contemporary division of labor. Our market-driven world provides engaging, complex work to a few but dumps demeaning, mind-numbing jobs on most. The book challenges the rationale for these arrangements. Among them are the belief that we live in a zero-sum world where one person's gain is another's loss, and that some are born smarter than others. The book argues that the division of labor feeds racism and wrecks education. An interesting choice is the author's focus on schools. Because there aren't enough exciting jobs (or jobs of any kind!) to go around, it is "necessary" to turn bright, curious youngsters into demoralized, bored adults who resist learning. The dumbing down of education is deliberate. Gomberg thinks that the difference between complex and routine work is recognized and resented by everyone. His egalitarian vision is that we should agree to share routine tasks, common practice in traditional societies and some present-day families. Sharing work would enable everyone to develop creative skills with the rest of their time and would allow true equality of opportunity to emerge. (Gomberg seems to regard being a philosophy professor as the ideal job, a view not universally shared).

The tradition of "utopian" philosophy is to cast the familiar in a new, unflattering light, and to make the unfamiliar look worthwhile and tangible. Human slavery once seemed natural to privileged thinkers like Thomas Jefferson; maybe someday we will look back on present-day social organization as profoundly unnatural and dehumanizing.

Sharing Complexity Equally (Including Philosophy)

This book manages to present complex and sophisticated ideas clearly, simply and logically. The author convincingly lays out the connection between racial discrimination and an even more widespread, if less vicious, form of inequality. That is the oppression of the majority - the non-elite working people we have been taught to call "white." Most work in jobs that bring them limited esteem and little joy.

The fact that the book is written to be accessible to ordinary readers (not just philosophy majors) is part of the message. A just world where the good life is shared equally is based on sharing complex skills and decision making by all, not just those born into the right family.

A breath of fresh air in these cynical, selfish times.

Source - Amazon

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