Research Snapshots

Can you describe an area of your current research? What is the main idea or argument?

The aim of my current research is to study the nature and meaning of forward-looking responsibility for structural injustice. Injustice is “structural” when inequalities are the product of social, economic, and political processes. Responsibility is “forward-looking” when our aim is to change some state of affairs in the world.

Forward-looking responsibility addresses structural injustices: we are responsible for making sure that these ongoing and unjust processes are transformed for the better. Forward-looking responsibility is not concerned with the blameworthiness of a particular agent for having caused some harm. Rather, it consists in sharing our world and bringing about a brighter future together.

What drew you to this particular topic?

When confronted with the injustice of the world, we often say: “somebody should do something”. Namely, we are concerned with what is going on, but we don’t think we are so personally involved nor we feel responsible, because we “did nothing wrong”. Yet, if we really want to change things, we cannot just retreat into sloth, waiting for somebody else to take action.

My research project is about acknowledging that - as members of a world of injustice - we all share the burden of eradicating evil. I think this is a topic worth exploring not only because of its growing theoretical relevance, but also because it is about our lives together and how to react to the challenges that we encounter every day. Reflecting on forward-looking responsibility means choosing to be aware of an uncomfortable, but fundamental task: fighting for a future already begun in the present; our present.

What new perspective or idea are you hoping to bring to philosophy with your work?

Current literature has failed to delineate better the nature of forward-looking responsibility: the outcome is a fragmentary state of the art. Moreover, it has not addressed the question of what motivates an agent to take on forward-looking responsibility. The aim of my project is to rectify these shortcomings.

First, to fill this lacuna, as it is important to understand why and how people should act on forward-looking responsibility. Second, to shed light on the nature and meaning of forward-looking responsibility, so as to fully grasp this phenomenon.

February 2025