Author Interview with Carter Dillard
Author of the book:"Justice as a Fair Start in Life"
Carter began his career as an Honors Program appointee to the U.S. Department of Justice and later served as a legal adviser to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, in the national security law division. He wrote his thesis at NYU reformulating the right to have children under Jeremy Waldron. He recently served on the Steering Committee of the Population Ethics and Policy Research Project and was a Visiting Scholar at the Uehiro Center, both at the University of Oxford, while managing a strategic impact litigation program with annual resources in excess of five million dollars.
1. Please introduce yourself. What would you like your reader to know about you?
I work on intergenerational justice as the intersection of all other forms, from environmental to distributive.
2. What is your inspiration/motivation?
Most unjust power structures are based on a lie that is easy to spot, if you look hard. I'm motivated to help people see it.
3. How long did it take to complete your research from the idea to the book?
Sadly, 14 years!
4. What's the main message of "Justice as a Fair Start in Life"?
Justice depends on how we first create - or procreate - power relations. That simple insight necessitates universal #fairstart family reforms, the efficacy of which - in addressing the key crises we face today - surpass most other policy reforms currently being considered.
5. What was the most unexpected conclusion you came up with during your research?
The idea that a properly constructed right to have children would have to proceed and thereby preempt other rights was a surprise. But from Kelsen to Hart to Rawls to Raz, I could not find any reason to doubt that claim.
6. How would you describe your publishing experience with Eliva Press in a few words?
Wonderful, efficient, and flexible.
7. How would you describe Eliva Press peer review service?
Excellent - I adopted 90 percent of the suggestions, which were insightful.