Conceptualizing Global Substantive Justice in the Age of Obama

Abstract:     
What would the United States look like if it stood on the side of peace and justice? In this keynote address, Adrien Wing advocates that it would have to support substantive justice. It must commit itself to respecting and using international law to further this type of justice. The United States must seriously consider adopting second-generation rights in the Constitution as well as ratifying ICESCR, CRC, and CEDAW. It must catch up with its peers by prioritizing gender equality and adding it to the Constitution. The author examines what such a concept would mean in the age of Obama through the lens of Critical Race Theory (CRT). Part II of the article presents some key policy points. Part III focus on what might become discussable during the Obama administration, although might not come to fruition until long afterward. Part IV concludes with recommendations.

Keywords: Women's Rights, Human Rights, Obama Administration, CEDAW, Gender Equality, Recommendations, Policy objectives, discrimination, homosexual rights, LGBT, CRT, Critical Race Theory, ICESCR

JEL Classification: K10, K49, K30, K39

Accepted Paper Series