The bulk of the contributions in Theories of Social and Economic Justice originated in a research project initiated by the Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study (STIAS) in 2002. STIAS hosted a workshop in July 2004 in which researchers from Law, Economics, Theology and Sociology participated, and some of the contributions at the workshop were subsequently reworked into chapters for this book. In addition, colleagues, both in South Africa and abroad, who had not participated in the workshop but whose recently published work on social and economic justice fitted in with the project extremely well, gave permission to re-publish their articles in the book.

The book is based on the idea that the attainment of greater social and economic justice, specifically in the South African context, is strongly influenced by the implications and the coherence of various theories of social and economic justice. Furthermore, it is argued that the promotion and protection of social and economic justice need to be approached from different theoretical perspectives when considering different practical circumstances, contexts and dilemmas. One theoretical size simply does not fit all, as far as social and economic justice is concerned.

The range of theoretical approaches represented in this book – legal, economic, theological and sociological – is testimony to the truly cross- and multi-disciplinary nature of the contributions. Apart from leading South African scholars in Law, Economics, Theology and Sociology, four contributions from American academics are included: Professors Gregory Alexander (Cornell Law School), William Forbath (University of Texas), Lucy Williams (Northeastern University), and Ross Zucker (Lander College).

About the editor:

AJ van der Walt is professor in the Faculty of Law at Stellenbosch University and author of Constitutional Property Clauses: A Comparative Analysis and Constitutional Property Law. He is also a co-editor, with H Botha and J van der Walt, of Rights and Democracy in a Transformative Constitution.

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