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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 January 2020
Samantha Brennan notes in her survey article, “Recent Works in Feminist Ethics,” that “the reshaping of moral concepts in light of feminist critiques of individualism and feminist development of relational alternatives represents significant progress in feminist ethics, indeed in ethics at large.” Two suggestions in this claim serve as a starting point for my application of a relational approach to inequalities in a global context. First, equality is a moral concept that has been and continues to be central to Western liberal theory. The global context reveals liberalism's dominance on the world scene as well as increases in inequalities of wealth both within and across borders. I claim that this context calls for renewed vigilance in the “reshaping of moral concepts” that are central to liberal theory. To clarify, I do not argue that feminists must work with these concepts. Rather I hold that some concepts, one of them being equality, have enduring moral value and this makes continued feminist analyses of them important, particularly in the contemporary global context.
A Bryn Mawr College Research Grant in International Studies and a sabbatical in Fall 2002 allowed me to present earlier versions of this paper at conferences and institutions, where I got valuable feedback from a number of people. In particular, I want to thank Elisabeth Boetzkes, Sue Campbell, Steve Ferzacca, Virginia McGowan, Kai Nielsen, Christine Overall, Susan Sherwin, Bob Ware, and Karen Wendling. I also want to thank Samantha Brennan, whose interest in and critical comments on my relational approach to equality have been important to the development of it. Jerry Cohen's work has been an important influence. I owe him special thanks for reading and providing comments on the penultimate version. As always, I am grateful to Andrew Brook's unfailing support and keen critical eye for problems.
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33 I thank Kai Nielsen and Ver6nica Vazquez Garcia for alerting me to these recent changes in the workforce composition of maquiladoras.
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35 An important source of information on the negative effects of economic globalization as well as on anti-globalization protest and movements is Robin, Broad, ed., Global Backlash: Citizen Initiatives for a Just World Economy (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2002).Google Scholar
