Economic Justice and Sustainable Development: Towards an Integrated Political Justice Framework for Equity, Inclusion, And Transformative Governance

Economic growth can increase productive capacity and create resources for development, but it does not automatically remove inequality, social exclusion, unequal opportunities, or differences in people's ability to benefit from progress. This conceptual article examines why growth-centred development can produce economic gains without producing sufficiently fair and sustainable outcomes. It argues that economic justice should be understood as a political foundation of sustainable development rather than as a separate welfare concern. Drawing on John Rawls's account of justice, Amartya Sen's capability approach, Political Justice Framework for Sustainable Development. The framework brings together five Martha Nussbaum's emphasis on human capabilities and dignity, and Robert Nozick's concern with individual liberty, the article develops an Integrated mutually reinforcing dimensions: equitable distribution, capability enhancement, democratic participation, institutional accountability, and transformative governance. The study uses conceptual analysis, comparative normative political analysis, political economy analysis, and interpretive synthesis of selected secondary sources. The argument is that resources matter, but their developmental value depends on whether people can convert them into real opportunities, participate in decisions that affect them, and rely on institutions that are transparent, responsive, and capable of reform. The framework therefore moves beyond a narrow concern with economic growth and proposes a political understanding of development in which fairness, human capability, democratic voice, institutional responsibility, and structural change are connected. The article concludes that sustainable development is more likely to be inclusive and durable when economic resources are fairly distributed, translated into human capabilities, shaped through meaningful participation, protected by accountable institutions, and supported by transformative governance.