Social Justice in an Open World: The Role of the United Nations
Chapter 3
Rising inequalities among people Inequalities in income distribution widened perceptibly during the last quarter of the twentieth century, following what had been a steady reduction in income disparities since the Second World War. This worsening of income inequality, which has persisted and now affects most countries, received considerable attention from the Forum. However, the Forum also focused on some notable gains in the realm of distributive justice, highlighting the progress made with regard to equality of rights, particularly in relation to the situation of women, and with regard to economic justice.
3.1 Issues relating to the reliability and diversity of sources of information It is necessary to outline the difficulties and considerations associated with conducting an analytical appraisal of the immensely complicated issue of equality and justice from a distributional perspective. First, there is the vastness of the issue, which in itself challenges the research capacity and analytical ability of an institution or group of people meeting periodically to share their knowledge and views, and a second important limiting factor is the paucity and poor quality of data. Justice, equity and equality can legitimately be explored from a philosophical, moral or political perspective, even by those who can only aspire to the breadth and depth of perspicacity shown by a John Rawls, John Stuart Mill or Jean-Jacques Rousseau. One could argue that in the United Nations itself more discussion and debate should be devoted to the philosophical, moral and religious foundations of the idea of justice and to the current understandingof the notion of universal human rights. In a limited exercise such as that undertaken by this Forum, however, theoretical reflections had to be supported by facts and data.13 There are some significant problems relating to the availability, consistency and quality of data. For many developing countries, basic demographic, social and economic statistics do not come from national sources but are compiled by international organizations, with relevant data obtained through sample surveys, at best, but more often through comparisons, projections and extrapolations. These statistics often convey a partial and very superficial picture of living conditions among the people concerned. One unfortunate aspect of the bureaucratic or technocratic culture of international organizations is the general reluctance to complement and enrich limited statistical data with direct impressions, personal testimonies, anecdotal material, travelogues or works of fiction. A better balance will have to be sought at some point in the United Nations between different sources and forms of knowledge. In particular, empirical data will have to be complemented by the less measurable but richer knowledge of the human condition gained through real-world experience.