Beyond Justice as Fairness: Rethinking Rawls from a Cross-Cultural Perspective, by Paul Nnodim, explores the three foundational topics in Rawls’s theories of justice—social justice, multiculturalism, and global justice—while deconstructing ideas of democratic citizenship, public reason, and liberal individualism latent in Rawls’s treatment of these subjects to uncover their cultural and historical underpinnings. Furthermore, it investigates whether these ideas are compatible with the concept of the person in a non-Western context.

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Beyond Justice as Fairness is a pedagogical gem. Nnodim articulates the key ideas of John Rawls’s theory of justice in an accessible way that all readers will appreciate. Nnodim identifies the nuances and trajectories of those ideas throughout Rawls’s major works and gives attention to the ways in which themes of justice, freedom, and equality are contrasted in classical liberalism and the Rawlsian model. Noting how Rawls’s political liberalism differs from comprehensive liberalism, the author navigates the dilemmas of multiculturalism and the plurality of values by focusing on humans' shared political endeavors. Among Nnodim's noteworthy contributions is his application of Rawls’s notion of justice as fairness in contexts Rawls may not have foreseen. The final chapter offers a cross-cultural, philosophical analysis of justice and its relation to personhood in Igbo culture. This rich book will be valuable to those interested in human rights and global justice, democracy and citizenship, and individualism and social justice. Those studying philosophy, political science, peace and justice studies, or Africana studies will want this volume. Essential.

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Beyond Justice as Fairness serves as a helpful introduction to Rawls's complicated thought for those who want to see the forest in the midst of Rawls's very difficult trees. Nnodim emphasizes the fact that Rawlsian political liberalism is a type of multiculturalism and also fosters a multireligious society. There is much on the positive side to recommend this book, including a discussion of the role of natural rights and duties in Rawls’s view, in addition to the more famous treatment of social contract theory.