Article
A Needs-based Partial Theory of Human Injustice: Oppression, Dehumanization, Exploitation, and Systematic Inequality in Opportunities to Address Human Needs
Humanity & Society
(2019)
Abstract
This article makes a sociological contribution to normative social theory, by contending that human injustice is produced when oppression, mechanistic dehumanization and/or exploitation create systematic inequality in opportunities to address human needs, leading to wrongful need deprivation and the resulting serious harm. This needs-based partial theory of the sources, mechanisms and nature of human injustice contends that three distinct social systemic sources – oppression, mechanistic dehumanization and exploitation – produce unique and/or overlapping social mechanisms, which create systematic inequality in opportunities to address universal human needs in culturally specific ways, thus producing the nature of the human injustice theorized here: wrongfully unmet needs and serious harm. The relationship of the partial theory to extant theories of human need and psychological need is explained. The manuscript was peer-reviewed August 2018 by a sociologist and a philosopher. The revisions were completed and a second round of reviews by two members of the editorial board and the editor recommended publication with no further revisions.
Keywords
- oppression,
- dehumanization,
- human injustice,
- human needs,
- social justice,
- human liberation
Disciplines
Publication Date
Winter March 13, 2019
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1177/0160597619832623
Citation Information
Michael A. Dover. "A Needs-based Partial Theory of Human Injustice: Oppression, Dehumanization, Exploitation, and Systematic Inequality in Opportunities to Address Human Needs" Humanity & Society Vol. 23 Iss. 4 (2019) p. 442 - 483 ISSN: 0160-5976 Available at: http://works.bepress.com/michael-dover/16/
Creative Commons license
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons CC_BY-NC International License.