PART II - POLICIES AND PRACTICES

Summary

In chapter 2 we saw how Baroness Wootton argued that great difficulties arise for those involved in wage bargaining when nobody knows what justice is, when there is a fundamental uncertainty about whether an objective standard of justice exists, when there is a moral vacuum. In this Part I examine in some detail two important policy areas in which these problems may be exemplified. What happens to policy-makers, to those responsible for implementing policy, to people within a system attempting to work with integrity in the fulfilment of a vocation, to those whom the system or practice is intended to serve or help or change if there is fundamental uncertainty about justice, if society is morally fragmented, if serious-minded people feel that a moral vacuum exists? And what kind of resources are available to help in such confusing situations? Are there in these areas relevant insights and resources drawn from the tradition of Christian reflection on justice which might be helpful?