“Veil of ignorance” game is an interactive exercise designed to make participants aware of decision-making mechanisms in the context of social justice. It is based on John Rawls’ concept that fair decisions should be made without awareness of one’s social position.

Duration: 20 minutes

Preparation:
Divide participants into several smaller groups.
Distribute the veil of ignorance cards (download) to participants with specific characters (e.g. mayor, elderly person, student, entrepreneur), but inform them that they cannot reveal them before the task.
Prepare one of the following dilemmas for each group to solve.

Dilemmas to solve:
1. Community budget – You are members of a local community. You have €100,000 in your budget. You can allocate it to:
– Employing carers for the elderly
– Organising a big party with a well-known celebrity
What do you choose?
2. You are co-workers in a large company that has had a successful year. Management makes you an offer:
– Office workers will receive a 15% raise, warehouse workers 5%
– All will receive 8% each
Which option do you choose?
3. Investment and the environment – You are a member of the local community. Your town has been offered an investment that will create new jobs, but requires cutting down the only park in town. What will you decide?

You can also download the dilemmas

Game flow:
Each group has a set amount of time to make a decision and justify it.
After the presentation of the results, the participants reveal their roles as written on the cards.
Groups have an additional 10 minutes to discuss and analyse their decisions again.

Summary:
– Did your discussion go differently when you knew your character?
– Why yes or why no?
– Introduction of John Rawls’ concept of the “Veil of Ignorance”: ‘Let us try to act as if we do not know what role we will play in society.’
– Discuss the impact of perspective on decision-making.

This exercise helps participants to better understand the importance of justice and decision-making from the perspective of the common good and not just their own interests.

Additional materials:
– Educational video on John Rawls’ theory of justice link
– An educational programme to find more inspiration for activities, which we wrote about here

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