Review and Critique of Theories of Economic Justice in the Twentieth Century

Second half of the twentieth century witnessed the birth of several important theories of justice in the liberal ideas that would attempt to provide nonsocialist base for social and economic justice. Identifying and evaluating these theories that are effective on many national and international policies are necessary introduction to complete analytical foundations of social scientists and finally, to improve justice-oriented policies in the country. The paper studies five prominent theories of social justice which have been presented in recent decades by the distinguished representatives as follows: libertarian (Hayek), contractual (Rawls), welfare orientated (Posner), contextual (Walzer) and capability-oriented (San). Ultimately, some of these perspectives reducing the concept of justice to other concepts such as freedom or welfare and others just show the process to reach the rules of social justice. Given the strengths and weaknesses of these theories can help us to find an Islamic Theory of Justice for contemporary systems.