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Gender Integration in the Military: A Rawlsian Approach

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2020

Mark N. Jensen
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Abstract

Following the recent decisions by Western militaries to pursue greater integration of women into combat roles, this paper examines the principles that motivate integration and organizes them into a theoretically coherent scheme that could serve as a roadmap for policymakers as they rebuild military institutions and their combat units in an integrated fashion. The strategy of the paper is Rawlsian: the right relationship between the principles that motivate integration can be derived through an application of Rawls's methodology as described in A Theory of Justice. The result is a lexically ordered set of principles that begin with gender‐blind equal opportunity but permit adjustments that take gender into account when these adjustments serve the interests of military institutions. The paper concludes with a discussion of two concerns, one practical and one theoretical, that one might have about the account.

Type
Articles
Information
Hypatia , Volume 31 , Issue 4 , Fall 2016 , pp. 844 - 857
Copyright
Copyright © Published 2016. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA

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