Ta-Nehisi Coates essay The Case for Reparations (2014) details the socioeconomic and political conditions that have served, over the course of American history, to systematically deprive African Americans of tangible resources and human dignity comparable to those enjoyed by Whites. To what extent do you believe that the Capabilities Approach, as described by Martha Nussbaum, offers an approach to comparative quality-of-life assessment and to theorizing about basic social justice that could be useful for targeting the macro-level conditions outlined in Coates essay? In your critique, consider the following factors:
Past and present-day social, cultural, economic, and political forces
Historical patterns of bias, social injustice, and social control in social welfare policies and practices
Identifiable targets for systemic change
references:
Coates, T.-N. (2014). The case for reparations. The Atlantic, 313(5), 54.
Martha C. Nussbaum. (2011). Creating Capabilities: The Human Development Approach. Harvard University Press.
