Leiden University Student Repository

Christis, Wouter Henri Frederik (2024)

Why wealthier states have a moral obligation of distributive justice towards the developing states: Research grounded in the principles of luck-egalitarianism

Bachelor thesis | Politicologie (BSc)

The question of whether wealthier states should give aid to developing states is on the agenda of most political debates and is also highly discussed in the academic world. Within the luck-egalitarian theory, scholars disagree about whether the wealthier states are causing, at least partly, poverty within the developing states. This research will provide a normative answer to the question of whether wealthier states are morally obligated to provide distributive justice towards developing states. The crux of this essay involves the question of whether poverty is, at least partly, a form of brute luck imposed upon the developing states by the wealthier states. To conclude, this thesis claims that by abusing their borrowing privilege and resourcing privilege, the wealthier states are, at least partly, responsible for the plight of the developing states and therefore are morally obligated to provide distributive justice towards the developing states.

Luck-egalitarianism

developing states

wealthier states

distributive justice

borrowing privilege

rescourcing privilege

Author

Christis, Wouter Henri Frederik

Faculty

Faculty of Social & Behavioural Sciences

Specialisation

International Relations and Organisations

Supervisors

Verschoor, M.

ECTS Credits

20

Language

en