Faith Groups and Justice: A Source of Solidarity or Division in the Global Justice Movement? The World Social Forum and Occupy Wall Street as Case Studies

Abstract

This article examines the role of faith groups in transnational movements of protest and resistance to neo-liberalism and whether they are a source of division or solidarity within those movements. Drawing on the ideas of Nancy Fraser, we investigate whether different conceptions of justice, including distributive, recognitive, political and environmental, are at the root of tensions between faith and non-faith groups. Using case studies of the World Social Forum (WSF) and Occupy Wall Street (OWS), we identify differences in the conditions under which faith and non-faith groups can achieve solidarity. Faith groups are a source of tension within the WSF, especially around recognitive justice issues such as reproductive rights and sexual orientation in contrast to OWS where faith groups were able to sublimate or reframe the issues to maintain solidarity. Recognitive justice remains a challenge to finding a more accommodative form of justice (Hosseini) which can bridge divisions within the global justice movement.