“Some of Us Who Deal with the Social Fabric”: Jane Addams Blends Peace and Social Justice, 1907–1919

Abstract

Have you ever wondered about the origin of the phrase: “If you want peace, work for justice?” I recently saw it on a bumper sticker that attributed the slogan to Pope Paul VI, and if you go to the Vatican sites for his annual peace messages between 1967 and 1969, you will find the general sentiment there. But the origin of the idea that peace requires social justice – not just the absence of warfare – is much older. In the twentieth century United States this idea originated in Jane Addams' book,Newer Ideals of Peace, published in 1907.