While ‘social justice’ is a recent concept, its origins lie in a 13th century theologian, who, through an Italian Jesuit, inspired a 19th century Pope. From there it has moved to the secular realm and jurisprudential reasoning, and tried to leap from national society to international society. It has become linked internationally to human rights obligations, where it has had a mixed influence. Within all these developments, the definitions of social justice have changed and been debated. There is a common idea in these definitions that in all societies there should be an aim to distribute resources to assist those less advantaged. In addition, a core element has remained: that the state has some obligations to ensure social justice. This article sets out the history of these definitions and then seeks to challenge the sole responsibility of the state in relation to social justice. It examines the activities of corporations in their effect on society and the consequences on social justice. It also considers what this means in terms of defining social justice at a transnational and international level.

中文翻译：

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社会正义：从上帝到公司

虽然“社会正义”是一个最近的概念，但它的起源是一位 13 世纪的神学家，他通过意大利耶稣会士启发了一位 19 世纪的教皇。从此走向世俗领域和法理推理，并试图从国家社会跨越到国际社会。它已在国际上与人权义务联系在一起，并产生了不同的影响。在所有这些发展中，社会正义的定义发生了变化并引起了争论。这些定义中有一个共同的想法，即在所有社会中都应该有一个目标，即分配资源以帮助那些弱势群体。此外，还保留了一个核心要素：国家有义务确保社会正义。本文阐述了这些定义的历史，然后试图挑战国家在社会正义方面的唯一责任。它考察了公司的活动对社会的影响以及对社会正义的影响。它还考虑了这在定义跨国和国际层面的社会正义方面意味着什么。