ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the certain familiar criticisms of liberal theories of justice. It examines the notion of the welfare state itself to some critical scrutiny. The chapter discusses the certain communitarian, feminist and socialist critiques of liberal theories of justice. It also considers the feminist critique of the conception of the welfare state which has emerged in social democratic political theory, before finally turning to Moller Okin's critique of the liberal construction of the bounds of social justice and some general conclusions about the proper direction for progressive political theory. The idea of the welfare state therefore is that certain needs and interests of citizens in a society are of such fundamental importance that society itself must guarantee their fulfilment. Conversely, women are over-represented among not only those employed by the welfare state but also those economically dependent on welfare benefits, because they are over-represented among the poor.
