Social Justice in an Open World: The Role of the United Nations
mix of the "old" and the "new": social justice and economic freedom, active State intervention in society and a vibrant market economy, social democracy and tamed and regulated global capitalism, solidarity and competition, and international cooperation for development and regulated economic and financial globalization. These idealists-members of the Secretariat, of NGBs and of some delegations-knew that such syncretism represented a utopia, but they believed it was a mobilizing utopia that would guide the efforts of all actors in the building of a viable world community. Other players, however, including the most powerful and influential, knew that the eradication of poverty constituted the only objective that was fully acceptable within the context of the now-dominant view of the world and its future. The reasoning of the committed neoliberal is that removing the constraints imposed by Governments and archaic social structures will allow the release of long-suppressed initiative, ambition and productive energies, leading to increased opportunities for work and employment and, ipso facto, a reduction in poverty. Those who for one reason or another are unable to seize these economic opportunities will be rescued by safety nets. At the international level, developing countries will have the opportunity to advance both economically and socially if they open their borders to trade and investment and participate more actively in the world economy. Aid and assistance will be provided to low-income or least developed countries that are temporarily unable to pursue global economic integration. Justice, from this perspective, essentially derives from ensuring that all individuals and countries have equal opportunities to exercise their initiative and talents and to be fairly compensated and rewarded for their efforts. Social justice, with its redistributive connotations and the implied precedence of society over the individual, is suspect; it is a concept that has no contemporary relevance and should be avoided. Equality is achieved by ensuring equal opportunities and equal rights, particularly for women; equality of conditions is not a factor. Equity is a vague but convenient concept and a good substitute for the word "justice", which is a bit grandiloquent when applied to anything other than the judiciary. The reduction of poverty constitutes an acceptable goal because it represents the natural outcome of free market activity and a well-functioning economy at both the national and global levels. Avariant of this perspective, very influential a t the time of the Copenhagen Summit, is the human development approach, which essentially focuses on all aspects of human welfare and achieving growth with equity. The performance of Governrnents and countries is assessed on the basis of an index that is less crude and far more comprehensive than the traditional per-capita-GNP indicator. Centred on the individual and on the belief that, with good intentions and sufficient political will, a "human face" can be put on most aspects of development and modernization (including globalization), this approach was advocated in opposition to the concept of