Critical evaluation

Any right that is in consonance with public welfare is reasonable. Public welfare subsumes the welfare of each individual as well. From this perspective, social welfare seems to be an appropriate ground for claiming rights. But then, we are faced with a problem. How do we determine public welfare? If Bentham’s thesis of greatest happiness of greatest number is taken as the yardstick, is it not that we would miss the interests and claims of at least a few individuals for the interests of a majority or the greatest number? In a given capitalist society, what assurance is there that claims and interests of the propertied class would not be treated as equivalent to public welfare? By admitting public welfare as the ground for rights, one would admit that the societal, political and economic processes are neutral and would allow general welfare to be served. This is to ignore unequal distribution of power. In fact, social-welfare is a concept that is meant to mitigate through incremental changes the consequences of the unequal distribution of power.

In a society that not only has class difference but also caste, religious and ethnic differences, for example India, how could a working definition of public welfare be devised? A policy orientation by the state tilted towards one or the other may be criticized as either ‘majoritarian’ or as some would call, ‘minoritism’. A country where ‘poverty line’ itself is layered, how would we define social welfare? To deal with this, various specific rights for minorities, women, socially backward castes, cultural communities have been provided along with general rights.

The merit of the theory of social welfare lies in accepting that rights are not to be granted to a self-contained and atomized individual but to the one who is part of the social whole and whose rights are relative to the rights of others. It provides basis for socially coordinated claims so that adverse impact of unequal distribution of power in society could be mitigated. The significance of this approach is in areas of social reform and social legislation including policies for positive discrimination by the State. Policy of positive discrimination and social justice in favour of socially disadvantaged groups and women for their ‘empowerment’ is reflection of their claim for relative adjustment of rights of others. It is possible that ground for social welfare may emerge from the very claims, which have roots in terms of human dignity and self-respect (human and moral rights), economic inequality, gender inequality, social discrimination, etc.