Thick and Thin – or Political? Avishai Margalit and Judith N. Shklar on Betrayal

Abstract

Judith Shklar and Avishai Margalit both pay significant attention to the notion of betrayal; in doing so they pinpoint some of the most intractable problems of belonging, and in particular of political belonging, faced by human beings. Each examines the idea across multiple contexts, and is sensitive to the ambiguities of betrayal. Yet despite some profound similarities of approach, we argue that Shklar delivers a cleaner, more political and yet pared-down account of betrayal than does Margalit, and that she thereby avoids some significant problems that are evident in the latter's approach, not least his attempt to use the language of thick and thin to differentiate relations of different types.

Cruelty, Injustice, and the Liberalism of Fear

“…Investigating the relationship between cruelty and injustice also sheds light on the way that liberal and republican traditions of thought intersect in Shklar's work (on which, more generally, see Ashenden and Hess 2018;Hess 2014, especially 140-43). Although she is most famous for articulating the liberalism of fear, in The Faces of Injustice she more often appeals to a republican tradition to illuminate the importance of active citizenship.…”

“… 10. The closest Shklar comes to indicating this is when she writes that “the consequences of perceiving betrayal” may be “disproportionate, disturbing, unjust to individuals, and dangerous to public liberties” (OV, 185), but injustice is neither given any special prominence here nor discussed elsewhere in the chapter. Shklar’s account of betrayal has received little scholarly attention; for a recent exception, see Ashenden and Hess (2022). …”