Neo-Rawlsian Co-ordinates: Notes on A Theory of Justice for the Information Age.

Abstract

The ideas of philosopher John Rawls should be appropriated for the information age. A literature review
 identifies previous contributions in fields such as communication and library and information science. The
 article postulates the following neo-Rawlsian propositions as co-ordinates for the development of a normative
 theory of the information society: that political philosophy should be incorporated into information society
 studies; that social and technological circumstances define the limits of progressive politics; that the right is
 prior to the good in social morality; that the nation state should remain in sharp focus, despite globalization;
 that liberty, the first principle of social justice, requires updating to deal with the growth of surveillance and
 other challenges; that social wellbeing is a function of equal opportunities plus limited inequalities of outcome,
 in information as well as material resources; and that political stability depends upon an overlapping
 consensus accommodating both religion and secularism. Although incomplete, such co-ordinates can help to
 guide policy-makers in the twenty-first century.