Element contents
Reparations and Redress for Historical Injustice
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 June 2026
Summary
This Element introduces various justifications for reparations and redress for historical injustice discussed in political theory and philosophy. It examines multiple real-world cases to illustrate and test theories. It is accessible to students and scholars unfamiliar with the field, while providing new arguments for experts in the field, and organizing the debate around reparations in new ways. The Element is divided into four main sections. The first three sections examine different temporal orientations of justice: backward-looking, forward-looking, and structural injustice over time. The fourth section examines Indigenous perspectives and settler colonial theory, which complicate and problematize the temporal orientations and arguments from the other sections. The discussion in this Element is organized around two recurring theses. First, approaches relying on primarily forward-looking justifications could be made more plausible and compelling by incorporating backward-looking elements (and vice versa). Second, past injustice can change what should (publicly) count as justice.
Keywords
Information
- Type
- Element
- Information
- Online ISBN: 9781009184281Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication: 09 July 2026
References
Alfred, Taiaiake. 2005. “Sovereignty.” In Sovereignty Matters, edited by Barker, Joanne, 33–50. University of Nebraska Press.Google Scholar
Alfred, Taiaiake 2009a. Peace, Power, Righteousness. 2nd ed. Don Mills, ON: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Alfred, Taiaiake 2009b. “Restitution is the Real Pathway to Justice for Indigenous Peoples.” In Response, Responsibility, and Renewal, edited by Younging, Gregory, Dewar, Jonathan, and DeGagné, Mike, 181–187. Ottawa: Aboriginal Healing Foundation.Google Scholar
Allen, Ernest, and Chrisman, Robert. 2004. “Ten Reasons: A Response to David Horowitz.” In Reparations for Slavery, edited by Salzberger, Ronald and Turck, Mary, 130–139. Rowman & Littlefield.Google Scholar
Aristotle, . 2011. Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics. Translated by Bartlett, Robert and Collins, Susan. University of Chicago Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Arneson, Richard. 1989. “Equality and Equal Opportunity for Welfare.” Philosophical Studies 56:77–93.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Australian Electoral Commission. 2023. “Tally Room: 2023 Referendum.” November 2. https://results.aec.gov.au/29581/Website/ReferendumNationalResults-29581.htm.Google Scholar
Baptist, Edward E. 2019. “How Slavery Became America’s First Big Business.” Vox. August 16. Interviewed by P. R. Lockhart. https://www.vox.com/identities/2019/8/16/20806069/slavery-economy-capitalism-violence-cotton-edward-baptist.Google Scholar
Russel Lawrence, Barsh. 1994. “Indigenous Peoples in the 1990s: From Object to Subject of International Law?” Harvard Human Rights Journal 7:33–86.Google Scholar
Boxill, Bernard. 1972. “The Morality of Reparation.” Social Theory and Practice 2(1):113–123. https://doi.org/10.5840/soctheorpract1972216.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boxill, Bernard 2003. “A Lockean Argument for Black Reparations.” The Journal of Ethics 7:63–91. https://doi.org/10.1023/a:1022826929393.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bernard, Boxill, and Corlett, J. Angelo. 2022. “Black Reparations.” In Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, edited by Zalta, Edward. https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2022/entries/black-reparations.Google Scholar
Bradford, William. 2004. “‘Another Such Victory and We Are Undone’: A Call to an American Indian Declaration of Independence.” Tulsa Law Review 40:71–136.Google Scholar
Butt, Daniel 2012. “Repairing Historical Wrongs and the End of Empire.” Social & Legal Studies 21(1):227–242. https://doi.org/10.1177/0964663911435932.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Butt, Daniel 2013. “Historic Injustice and the Inheritance of Rights and Duties in East Asia.” In Inherited Responsibility and Historical Reconciliation in East Asia, edited by Kwak, Jun-Hyeok and Nobles, Melissa, 38–55. Routledge.Google Scholar
Cabezas, César. 2024. “Is Conceptual Inflation a Problem for a Theory of Institutional Racism?” Ethics 134(2):179–213. https://doi.org/10.1086/727273.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
CARICOM. 2014. “CARICOM Ten Point Plan for Reparatory Justice.” https://caricom.org/caricom-ten-point-plan-for-reparatory-justice.Google Scholar
Cherry, Myisha, and Whyte, Kyle. 2018. “Episode 32: Kyle Whyte on Indigenous Resilience and Environmental Change.” The UnMute Podcast with Myisha Cherry, February 5.Google Scholar
Child, Lydia Maria. 1865. The Freedmen’s Book. Boston: Ticknor and Fields. https://archive.org/details/freedmensbookbyl00chil/page/265/mode/2up.Google Scholar
Christie, Gordon. 2022. “The Supersession of Indigenous Understandings of Justice and Morals.” Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy 25(3):427–442. https://doi.org/10.1080/13698230.2022.2039539.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cohen, Andrew I. 2009. “Compensation for Historic Injustices: Completing the Boxill and Sher Argument.” Philosophy & Public Affairs 37(1):81–102. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1088-4963.2008.01146.x.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Corntassel, Jeff. 2007. “Partnership in Action? Indigenous Political Mobilization and Co-optation During the First UN Indigenous Decade (1995–2004).” Human Rights Quarterly 29(1):137–166. https://doi.org/10.1353/hrq.2007.0005.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cowen, Tyler. 2006. “How Far Back Should We Go?” In Retribution and Reparation in the Transition to Democracy, edited by Elster, Jon, 17–32. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511584343.004.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Craemer, Thomas, Smith, Trevor, Harrison, Brianna, et al. 2023. “Wealth Implications of Slavery and Racial Discrimination for African American Descendants of the Enslaved.” In The Black Reparations Project, edited by Jr, William Darity., Mullen, A. Kirsten, and Hubbard, Lucas, 22–62. University of California Press. https://doi.org/10.1525/9780520383821-004.Google Scholar
Darby, Derrick. 2010. “Reparations and Racial Inequality.” Philosophy Compass 5(1):55–66. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1747-9991.2009.00268.x.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Darity, William Jr., and Mullen, A. Kirsten. 2022. From Here to Equality. 2nd ed. University of North Carolina Press.Google Scholar
Dworkin, Ronald 2003. “Equality, Luck and Hierarchy.” Philosophy & Public Affairs 31(2):190–198. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1088-4963.2003.00190.x.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Elster, Jon. 1993. “Ethical Individualism and Presentism.” The Monist 76(3):333–348. https://doi.org/10.5840/monist199376316.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Epstein, Richard. 1985. Takings. Harvard University Press. https://doi.org/10.4159/9780674036550.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Espindola, Juan, and Vaca, Moises. 2014. “The Problem of Historical Rectification for Rawlsian Theory.” Res Publica 20:227–243. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11158-014-9244-z.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fishkin, James. 1991. “Justice between Generations: Compensation, Identity, and Group Membership.” In Compensatory Justice: Nomos XXXIII, edited by Chapman, John, 85–96. New York University Press. https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt9qfzn3.8?seq=1.Google Scholar
Fullinwider, Robert. 2000. “The Case for Reparations.” Report from the Institute for Philosophy & Public Policy 20(2/3), 1–8.Google Scholar
Hendrix, Burke. 2022. “Supersession, Non-Ideal Theory, and Dominant Distributive Principles.” Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy 25(3):395–410. https://doi.org/10.1080/13698230.2022.2039540.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ivison, Duncan 2023. “Democratic Trust and Injustice.” Journal of Social and Political Philosophy 2(1):78–94. https://doi.org/10.3366/jspp.2023.0044.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kelly, Erin. 2017. “The Historical Injustice Problem for Political Liberalism.” Ethics 128:75–94. https://doi.org/10.1086/692974.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kerr-Ritche, Jeffrey. 2007. “Forty Acres, or, An Act of Bad Faith.” In Redress for Historical Injustices in the United States, edited by Martin, Michael and Yaquinto, Marilyn, 222–237. Duke University Press. https://doi.org/10.1215/9780822389811-013.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Krauthammer, Charles. 1990. “Reparations for Black Americans.” Time. December 31. https://time.com/archive/6716829/essay-reparations-for-black-americans.Google Scholar
Kumar, Rahul. 2014. “Why Reparations?” In Philosophical Foundations of the Law of Torts, edited by Oberdiek, John, 193–211. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198701385.003.0010.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kumar, Rahul, and Silver, David. 2004. “The Legacy of Injustice: Wronging the Future, Responsibility for the Past.” In Justice in Time, edited by Meyer, Lukas H., 145–158. Baden-Baden, Germany: Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft.Google Scholar
Lightfoot, Sheryl. 2016. Global Indigenous Politics. Routledge.10.4324/9781315670669CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Locke, John. 1980. Second Treatise of Government. Edited by Macpherson, C. B.. Hackett.Google Scholar
Catherine, Lu. 2017. Justice and Reconciliation in World Politics. Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Catherine, Lu 2018. “Responsibility, Structural Injustice, and Structural Transformation.” Ethics & Global Politics 11(1):42–57. https://doi.org/10.1080/16544951.2018.1507388.Google Scholar
Lyons, David. 2007. “Racial Injustices in U.S. History and Their Legacy.” In Redress for Historical Injustices in the United States, edited by Martin, Michael and Yaquinto, Marilyn, 33–54. Duke University Press. https://doi.org/10.1215/9780822389811-002.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Manuel, George, and Posluns, Michael. 2019. The Fourth World. University of Minnesota Press.10.5749/j.ctvf34hsbCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Martin, Michael, and Yaquinto, Marilyn, eds. 2007. Redress for Historical Injustices in the United States. Duke University Press. https://doi.org/10.1215/9780822389811.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McKeown, Maeve. 2021. “Backward-Looking Reparations and Structural Injustice.” Contemporary Political Theory 20(4):771–794. https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.62192.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McKeown, Maeve 2024. With Power Comes Responsibility. Bloomsbury. https://doi.org/10.5040/9781350195813.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Melber, Henning. 2022. “Hurdles on Reconciliation between Germany and the Ovaherero.” E+Z: Entwicklung und Zusammenarbeit, July 10. https://www.dandc.eu/en/article/germany-and-namibia-are-struggling-redress-crimes-colonial-era.Google Scholar
Mennen, Tiernan, and Morel, Cynthia. 2012. “From M’Intosh to Endorois: Creation of an International Indigenous Right to Land.” Tulane Journal of International & Comparative Law 21:37–85.Google Scholar
Menon, Praveen. 2023. “‘Reconciliation Is Dead’: Indigenous Australians Vow Silence after Referendum Fails.” Reuters. October 15. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/australian-indigenous-leaders-call-week-silence-after-referendum-defeat-2023-10-15.Google Scholar
Meyer, Lukas H. 2021. “Intergenerational Justice.” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, edited by Edward Zalta. https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2021/entries/justice-intergenerational.Google Scholar
Meyer, Lukas H., and Waligore, Timothy. 2018. “Die Aufhebungsthese: Grundlinien einer Theorie des gerechten Umgangs mit historischem Unrecht.” In Zeit – Eine Normative Ressource?, edited by Dietrich, Frank, Müller-Salo, Johannes, and Schmücker, Reinold, 215–230. Frankfurt: Vittorio Klostermann. https://doi.org/10.5771/9783465142775-215.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Meyer, Lukas H., and Waligore, Timothy 2022. “Superseding Historical Injustice? New Critical Assessments.” Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy 25(3):319–330. https://doi.org/10.1080/13698230.2022.2039541.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Meyer, Lukas H., and Waligore, Timothy 2024. “Supersession and Compensation for Historical Injustice.” Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy:1–25. https://doi.org/10.1080/13698230.2024.2309051.Google Scholar
Miller, David. 2007. National Responsibility and Global Justice. Oxford University Press.10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199235056.001.0001CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mills, Charles W. 2000. “Race and the Social Contract Tradition.” Social Identities 6(4):441–462. https://doi.org/10.1080/13504630020026404.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mills, Charles W. 2017. Black Rights/White Wrongs. Oxford University Press.10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190245412.001.0001CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moody-Adams, Michele. 1995. “Race, Class, and the Social Construction of Self-Respect.” In Dignity, Character, and Self-Respect, edited by Dillon, Robin, 271–289. Routledge.Google Scholar
Murdock, Esme. 2022. “Indigenous Governance Now: Settler Colonial Injustice Is Not Historically Past.” Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy 25(3):411–426. https://doi.org/10.1080/13698230.2022.2039543.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nuti, Alasia. 2019. Injustice and the Reproduction of History. Cambridge University Press.10.1017/9781108325592CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Owen, David. 2019. “Power.” In Issues in Political Theory, 4th ed., edited by McKinnon, Catriona, Jubb, Robert, and Tomlin, Patrick, 91–111. Oxford University Press.10.1093/hepl/9780198784067.003.0005CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Page, Jennifer. 2024. “Reparations for White Supremacy? Charles W. Mills and Reparative vs. Distributive Justice after the Structural Turn.” Journal of Social Philosophy 55(4):709–727. https://doi.org/10.1111/josp.12499.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Page, Jennifer 2027. Calling State Power to Account: Reparations in Morality, Law, and Politics. University of Chicago Press, Forthcoming. Manuscript on file with author.Google Scholar
Pierik, Roland. 2006. “Reparations for Luck Egalitarians.” Journal of Social Philosophy 37(3):423–440. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9833.2006.00346.x.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Radzik, Linda, and Murphy, Colleen. 2019. “Reconciliation.” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, edited by Edward Zalta. https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2019/entries/reconciliation.Google Scholar
Rawls, John 2001. Justice as Fairness: A Restatement. Edited by Kelly, Erin. Harvard University Press.10.2307/j.ctv31xf5v0CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shelby, Tommie. 2004. “Race and Social Justice: Rawlsian Considerations.” Fordham Law Review 72(5):1697–1714. https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/flr/vol72/iss5/15/.Google Scholar
Sher, George. 1997. Approximate Justice. Rowman & Littlefield.10.5771/9780742599482CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sher, George 2005. “Transgenerational Compensation.” Philosophy & Public Affairs 33(2):181–200. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1088-4963.2005.00029.x.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Short, Damien. 2005. “Reconciliation and the Problem of Internal Colonialism.” Journal of Intercultural Studies 26(3):267–282. https://doi.org/10.1080/07256860500153534.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Simpson, Leanne. 2011. Dancing on Our Turtle’s Back. Winnipeg: Arbeiter Ring Publishing.Google Scholar
Spinner-Halev, Jeff. 2012. Enduring Injustice. Cambridge University Press.10.1017/CBO9781139084253CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sullivan, Briana, Hays, Donald, and Bennett, Neil. 2024. “Households with a White, Non-Hispanic Householder Were Ten Times Wealthier Than Those with a Black Householder in 2021.” United States Census Bureau. April 23. https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2024/04/wealth-by-race.html.Google Scholar
Táíwò, Olúfẹmi O. 2022. Reconsidering Reparations. Oxford University Press.10.1093/oso/9780197508893.001.0001CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tan, Kok‐Chor. 2007. “Colonialism, Reparations, and Global Justice.” In Reparations, edited by Miller, Jon and Kumar, Rahul, 280–306. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780199299911.003.0013.Google Scholar
The California Reparations Report. 2023. “Executive Summary.” https://oag.ca.gov/system/files/media/exec-summary-ca-reparations.pdf.Google Scholar
Thompson, Janna 2004. “Historical Obligations.” In Reparations for Slavery, edited by Salzberger, Ronald and Turck, Mary, 224–236. Rowman & Littlefield.Google Scholar
Tully, James. 1998. “A Fair and Just Relationship: The Vision of the Canadian Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples.” Meanjin 57(1):146–166.Google Scholar
Tully, James 2008. Public Philosophy in a New Key. Vol. 1. Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Turner, Dale. 2004. “Oral Traditions and the Politics of (Mis)recognition.” In American Indian Thought, edited by Waters, Anne, 229–238. Blackwell.Google Scholar
Turner, Dale 2011. “Aboriginal Relations in Canada: The Importance of Political Reconciliation.” Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences, Equity Matters, May 3. https://www.federationhss.ca/en/blog/aboriginal-relations-canada-importance-political-reconciliation.Google Scholar
U.S. Department of Justice. 2023. “2013 and 2022 Reauthorizations of the Violence against Women Act (VAWA).” April 7. https://www.justice.gov/tribal/2013-and-2022-reauthorizations-violence-against-women-act-vawa.Google Scholar
Veracini, Lorenzo. 2021. “Settler Colonialism.” In The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Imperialism and Anti-Imperialism, 2nd ed., edited by Ness, Immanuel and Cope, Zak, 2412–2417. Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-29901-9_26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vernon, Richard. 2016. Justice Back and Forth. University of Toronto Press.10.3138/9781487510503CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Waldron, Jeremy. 1992. “Superseding Historic Injustice.” Ethics 103(1):4–28. https://doi.org/10.1086/293468.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Waldron, Jeremy 2004. “Settlement, Return, and the Supersession Thesis.” Theoretical Inquiries in Law 5(2):237–268. https://doi.org/10.2202/1565-3404.1093.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Waldron, Jeremy 2013. “Supersession and Sovereignty.” Julius Stone Address (August 3, 2006): NYU School of Law, Public Law Research Paper No. 13–33. Last revised June 18, 2013. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2205708.Google Scholar
Waligore, Timothy. 2008. “Cosmopolitan Right and Historical Wrong: Kantian Theory and Reparations for Indigenous Peoples.” Ph.D. Thesis, Columbia University, New York.Google Scholar
Waligore, Timothy 2016. “Rawls, Self-Respect, and Assurance: How Past Injustice Changes What Publicly Counts as Justice.” Politics, Philosophy & Economics 15(1):42–66. https://doi.org/10.1177/1470594X15599100.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Waligore, Timothy 2017. “Legitimate Expectations, Historical Injustice, and Perverse Expectations for Settlers.” Moral Philosophy and Politics 4(2):207–228. https://doi.org/10.1515/mopp-2016-0032.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Waligore, Timothy 2018. “Redress for Colonial Injustice: Structural Injustice and the Relevance of History.” Global Justice: Theory Practice Rhetoric 11(2):15–28. https://www.theglobaljusticenetwork.org/index.php/gjn/article/view/216.Google Scholar
Waligore, Timothy 2022. “Book Review: Injustice and the Reproduction of History: Structural Inequalities, Gender and Redress, by Alasia Nuti.” Political Theory 50(3):539–544. https://doi.org/10.1177/00905917211048005.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wenar, Leif. 2006. “Reparations for the Future.” Journal of Social Philosophy 37(3):396–405. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9833.2006.00344.x.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Whyte, Kyle. 2018. “On Resilient Parasitisms, or Why I’m Skeptical of Indigenous/Settler Reconciliation.” Journal of Global Ethics 14(2):277–289. https://doi.org/10.1080/17449626.2018.1516693.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wolfe, Patrick. 2006. “Settler Colonialism and the Elimination of the Native.” Journal of Genocide Research 8(4):387–409. https://doi.org/10.1080/14623520601056240.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Young, Iris Marion. 1990. Justice and the Politics of Difference. Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Young, Iris Marion. 2011. Responsibility for Justice. Oxford University Press.10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195392388.001.0001CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Accessibility standard: WCAG 2.1 AA
Why this information is here
This section outlines the accessibility features of this content - including support for screen readers, full keyboard navigation and high-contrast display options. This may not be relevant for you.Accessibility Information
The HTML of this element
complies with version 2.1 of the
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines
(WCAG), covering newer accessibility requirements and improved
user experiences and achieves the intermediate
(AA)
level of WCAG compliance, covering a wider range of accessibility requirements.
Content Navigation
Table of contents navigation
Allows you to navigate directly to chapters, sections, or non‐text items through a linked table of contents, reducing the need for extensive scrolling.
Allows you to navigate directly to chapters, sections, or non‐text items through a linked table of contents, reducing the need for extensive scrolling.
Reading Order & Textual Equivalents
Single logical reading order
You will encounter all content (including footnotes, captions, etc.) in a clear, sequential flow, making it easier to follow with assistive tools like screen readers.
You will encounter all content (including footnotes, captions, etc.) in a clear, sequential flow, making it easier to follow with assistive tools like screen readers.
Visual Accessibility
Use of colour is not sole means of conveying information
You will still understand key ideas or prompts without relying solely on colour, which is especially helpful if you have colour vision deficiencies.
You will still understand key ideas or prompts without relying solely on colour, which is especially helpful if you have colour vision deficiencies.
Structural and Technical Features
ARIA roles provided
You gain clarity from ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) roles and attributes, as they help assistive technologies interpret how each part of the content functions.
You gain clarity from ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) roles and attributes, as they help assistive technologies interpret how each part of the content functions.