This chapter provides an overview of global poverty and the debate on transnational socioeconomic justice. It begins by examining the current state of global poverty and the argument that it is in decline; it finds reason to be cautious about optimistic narratives on the decline of poverty. It then looks at global inequality and the uneven distribution of wealth between the human population. It then returns to look at poverty as an existential experience and how it is corrosive to a minimally acceptable human life.

It then considers the debate on transnational socio-economic justice between cosmopolitans and their critics. It provides a general distinction between ideal and non-ideal theory.It settles on a minimalist position as its point of departure for the injustice of global poverty. It argues that all sides have neglected the problem of intransigent non-compliance. There is little likelihood that compliance with even minimal duties of justice will occur in the near future. This raises the question of what the victims of injustice should do when there is no remedy on offer.