Economic Justice Research Articles

Positive epidemiology, revisited: The case for centering human rights and economic justice.

In recent years, a growing body of research in positive epidemiology has sought to expand the traditional focus of epidemiologic research beyond risk factors for disease and towards a more holistic understanding of health that includes the study of positive assets that shape well-being more broadly. While this paradigm shift holds great promise for transforming people's lives for the better, it is also critiqued for showcasing decontextualized perspectives that could cause great harm to the public's health if translated uncritically into population-based interventions. In this commentary, we argue for orienting positive epidemiology within a human rights and economic justice framework to mitigate this threat and discuss two examples of previously proposed health assets (religious involvement and marriage) that demonstrate the urgent need for positive epidemiologic research to center health equity. Finally, to advance the field, we provide recommendations for how future research can address shortcomings of the extant literature by moving from individual-level applications to societal-level approaches. In doing so, we believe that positive epidemiology can be transformed into a powerful force for health equity.

Economic, Cultural, Social Determinants of Black Women Obesity

Obesity is a widespread problem in the United States, particularly affecting Black communities. It is a public health problem, a long-term, cumulative issue of economic and social justice and inequality for this demographic group. Thus, the key to solving it is to eliminate persistent structural root causes. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in 2022, the prevalence of obesity among African American adults is 49.5%, with Black women having the highest prevalence compared to other racial and ethnic groups. The main purpose of this study is to provide a comprehensive literature review that examines the multifaceted factors contributing to obesity among African American women, as well as systematise the determinants related to the economic well-being of the community, social factors, cultural patterns of lifestyle in the community, etc. The analysis revealed a clear inverse relationship between income and obesity among African Americans, with this trend being particularly pronounced among women than men and differing across age groups in black communities. The economic determinants of obesity in Black women are related to the fact that low-income households have limited access to affordable and nutritious food and are regularly exposed to stress related to financial difficulties, with so-called “food swamps” and “food deserts” being common in low-income areas. The social determinants of obesity are related to the fact that Black women face higher levels of racism and sexism than other demographic groups, and unequal social conditions cause structural disparities in health, education and employment. Psycho-social and cultural determinants (cultural norms of body image, social influencers, religion, social networks and family upbringing, etc.) play a key role in the emergence of the problem under study, so Black women often model their eating and physical activity habits by cultural traditions, and those who struggle with overweight may face stigma, social isolation and discrimination. The article makes recommendations for reducing obesity among Black women, which primarily relate to the development of culturally sensitive nutrition education programs, community-based health promotion programs, community-centered food policy advocacy, technology-based health platforms, public-private partnerships for affordable healthy food retail, etc.

RIGHTS OF MINORITIES TO ESTABLISH AND ADMINISTER EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS

The Preamble of our Constitution aims at securing the unity and integrity of the nation. To maintain justice and freedom of opinion, belief, faith, and worship, minority populations enjoy religious and cultural protections guaranteed by the Constitution. Treating unequal as equals is as bad as treating equals as unequal. Everyone has the right to equality and the same possibilities under our Constitution, yet treating people equally means treating those differently who weren't born alike. Because minorities in India have faced such terrible discrimination and are not treated equally with others, our Constitution's founders guaranteed special rights to minorities under Articles 29 and 30. The idea of granting minorities some special rights is to make them feel secure. The purpose of special rights for minorities is to ensure the preservation of minority institutions and to ensure autonomy in the management of these institutions, not to foster inequality but to promote equality. Education empowers and enlightens society. An essential component of human development is education. The preamble to the constitution states that the golden goals of Justice, Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity, including social, economic, and political justice, must be attained for the Indian polity to succeed.

Blagovne znamke hitre mode: trajnostne tržne prakse in nakupovalno vedenje potrošnikov

The fast fashion boom is faced with economic, environmental and social justice objections. Sustainable mar­keting initiatives have become a new style statement, and brands are shifting to environment-friendly manufacturing. This study explores how fashion apparel brands adopt sustainable marketing practices to promote sustainable purchase behaviour. A cross-sectional survey using a quantitative research design was followed to collect responses from fashion brand consumers. Variance-based partial least squares-structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was used to assess the hypothesized model. Two-step bootstrapping was conducted to explore the mediating role of brand perception in the relationship between sustainable marketing activity and brand loyalty. The study suggests that firms can support sustainable marketing practices by creating a brand image and building trust. This can influence consumers' perceptions of sustainability and promote brand loyalty. The study also emphasizes the significance of brand loyalty in developing sustainable purchase behaviour that endures over time. The study provides insights into sustainable marketing strategies and pol­icies in indigenous markets.

Prefiguring the Environmental Justice Movement: the Ecodramaturgy of Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun

Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun (1958) exposed environmental racism and prefigured the tenants of environmental justice by depicting the impacts of poverty and environmental degradation on communities of color. Thirty years before the rise of the current environmental justice movement, Hansberry’s play details the intersectional aims of environmental justice by centering women's experience, by making connections between the health and well-being of women and children, and the larger environment. In this way, an ecodramaturical lens illuminates the power and potential of theatre to inspire civic action. Hansberry’s play stands as a keystone in the rhetorical architecture of the environmental justice movement, which insists that environmental policy must include consideration of where people live, work, play, and worship.  As a historiographic lens, ecodramaturgy can (re)illuminate canonical plays to show their ecological through-lines. Examining the representation of life experience, asking questions about the welfare of bodies, families, and communities affected by racism and economic injustice, ecodramaturgy illuminates canonical plays in new ways, revealing how ideologies of domination and white supremacy that have caused both social and ecological havoc across the land. Rob Nixon (2013) identifies the environmental degradation resulting from longstanding patterns of U.S. imperialism as “slow violence” perpetrated on the world’s poorest and most vulnerable communities. As the environmental justice movement would argue some 30 years later, Hansberry’s play makes clear that environmental health and social justice are inextricably linked, and that ecological concerns must be understood as intertwined with economic justice as well as gender and racial equity. Below, I examine the way environmental and social justice concerns came together in this hallmark play, revealing a (then) radical ecological viewpoint that the environment is coupled with human health and welfare. I contend that the white supremacy that the Youngers face when they plan to move to a new home not only constitutes systemic environmental racism but reflects and arises out of the historic abuse of land and bodies on which the U.S.extractive economies depend. My analysis traces the subtle ways those legacies infect and damage the day-to-day lives of those who carry the disproportional burdens of that historic abuse. I foreground clues to the ecologies represented on stage, including human bodies and habitat, in order to examine the environmental implications of the Youngers’ struggle and racial and class-based oppression and hierarchies the play represents. Hansberry’s claim to homeplace in the milieu 1950s foreshadows the principles of environmental justice in prescient ways.

The Prohibition of Social E-Commerce on TikTok Shop: A Fiqh Examination Based on Sharia Compliance and Economic Justice

The prohobition of TikTok Shop in Indonesia has sparked debate over licensing and Shariah compliance. This article emphasizes the importance of using Shariah principles in social e-commerce at TikTok Shop. This research aims to analyze the rationale behind this from the perspective of fiqh and economic justice. This research uses a juridical-normative approach by analyzing relevant regulations using a descriptive-analytical method. Data was collected through a literature review, highlighting the importance of considering maslaha to maintain market stability and economic justice. The banning on TikTok Shop to ensure Shariah compliance to achieve economic justice. Government regulations or policies are beneficial, extending beyond mere prohibitions and restrictions. As commerce evolves with the expansion of digital platforms, it becomes imperative to establish clear regulations to accommodate this ongoing development.

Legal regulation of economic justice in the condi tions of martial law

The article is devoted to the analysis of current national legislation and judicial practice in the field of economic justice in the conditions of martial law.
 The authors established that the large-scale invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation and the introduction of a legal regime of martial law led to the emergence of a number of problems related to the implementation of economic justice in today's conditions. It is noted that the activity of commercial courts is carried out with certain restrictions due to the challenges of martial law.
 It is emphasized that the issue of the activities of the courts located in the territories where hostilities are actively taking place and in the occupied territories is problematic.
 The article analyzes the remote operation of commercial courts. At the same time, the authors believe that the remote work of courts is much safer, since there is less crowding of people in one place (in the case of courts - the courtroom) than during the normal work of the court.
 The issue of renewal of economic procedural terms was studied, in particular, determination by the court of the validity of the reasons for skipping economic procedural terms, while such reasons are an evaluative category, as they are recognized by the courts subjectively and at their own discretion. Considered judicial practice regarding the recognition of the introduction of martial law on the territory of Ukraine as a valid reason for the renewal of economic procedural terms.
 The authors draw attention to the issue of postponement of the case, namely, the need to recognize the announcement of the "air alarm” signal as one of the reasons for the postponement of the court's consideration of the case.
 In the conclusions, it is noted that in the conditions of the introduction of the martial law regime, economic justice does not stop its activity, but some of its aspects have changed, because during the operation of the legal regime of martial law, economic justice is carried out taking into account the challenges caused by the present.

The politics of freeports – a place-based analysis of regional economic regeneration in the United Kingdom

Freeports are special economic zones, providing tax and customs benefits aimed at reducing economic friction and encouraging regional development. This place-based policy analysis of UK freeports draws upon qualitative interviews and deliberative workshops with leading industry, government, and civil society stakeholders in the two largest Freeport regions – Teesside and Liverpool. We find first, that purported tax, customs, and planning benefits are deemed less economically important than the agglomeration of innovation industries within a defined geographic boundary. Second, that stronger action on environmental and economic (in)justice is needed – Freeports could be a just transition mechanism if they can avoid capture by a ‘closed shop’ of industry players. Third, Freeports could facilitate cross-sectoral low-carbon economic regeneration, though they are subject to cycles of expectation, hype, and disappointment. We conclude that national policymakers must acknowledge the competing geographic and governance scales emerging within Freeport-hosting communities, as distributive environmental injustices between different locations remain broadly unaddressed. Finally, though cognisant of changes in political leadership on the horizon, we conclude that Freeports will increase the geographic spread of environmental injustice if this model of low-tax and low-regulation economics becomes a political norm within UK regional economic redevelopment strategy.

From Labor Sit-Downs to Civil Rights Sit-Ins: A Genealogy of Liberal Civil Disobedience

Abstract Liberal views of civil disobedience that emerged in the 1960s and ’70s can only be properly interpreted with recourse to the complicated history of the early civil rights movement's selective appropriation of the labor sit-downs of the 1930s. This essay addresses the messy but basically successful effort by civil rights sit-inners and the lawyers who defended them to circumvent the repressive state and legal response—especially the US Supreme Court ruling in National Labor Relations Board v. Fansteel Metallurgical Corporation (1939)—that the 1930s sit-downers garnered. My reexamination of the sit-ins places influential liberal ideas about civil disobedience in a fresh light. In his influential theory of civil disobedience, John Rawls mirrored key features of the politically and legally savvy strategy of delinking the lunch counter sit-ins from the workplace sit-downs. The result was a somewhat restrictive view of civil disobedience that sidelined matters of economic justice.

Transformasi Paradigma Pembangunan Ekonomi: Membangun Masa Depan Berkelanjutan melalui Perspektif Ekonomi Syariah

This article illustrates a paradigm shift in economic development through the lens of Islamic Economics, with a specific focus on sustainable development. The background involves a profound understanding of global economic challenges and the necessity to construct a sustainable development foundation from the perspective of Islamic economic values. The research aims to analyze the contribution of Islamic Economics in addressing economic imbalances, poverty alleviation, and community empowerment. The research methodology entails an in-depth literature review and a critical analysis of existing development models. The findings of this study indicate that the implementation of Islamic Economic concepts has the potential to foster more inclusive and sustainable economic growth. Factors such as distributive justice, community participation, and environmental sustainability take center stage in shaping Shariah-based economic policies. In this context, the article also identifies innovations and best practices in applying Islamic Economic principles to economic development. The conclusion of this article summarizes that the transformation of the economic development paradigm through the Islamic Economics approach can create a robust foundation for sustainable development. The primary contributions lie in achieving economic justice, community empowerment, and environmental sustainability. Thus, this article makes a significant contribution by providing insights and a new direction for a more holistic and resilient approach to economic development.

Justice and Housing

AbstractThis article surveys various topics that link questions about housing with considerations of economic justice. Housing has received increasing attention from philosophers within the last decade. In political philosophy, some aspects of a topic attract more attention than others. Presently, philosophical reflection focuses on the value of a home; homelessness; gentrification; segregation; and spatial justice, with a substantial body of literature developing on these interconnected themes. We highlight some of the recent contributions to the field of housing justice while also identifying areas that have received less attention. Specifically, we emphasize the importance of further philosophical exploration into how macroeconomic factors, like fiscal and monetary policy, impact housing justice. Additionally, we advocate for normative approaches that underscore justice issues not readily addressed by frameworks prioritizing human flourishing or relational equality.

Revitalising The Regulation of Zakat Institutions in Indonesia to Achieve Economic Justice

This research aims to provide a solution to the dual function problem of BAZNAS. The problem required the regulatory aspect improvement. Indentifiying national business governance issues, improving the regulation of Law No. 23/2011 on zakat management is crucial. The separation of the two functions of BAZNAS will also reduce the risk of misuse of zakat funds which can be significantly reduced, an independent regulator can conduct monitoring and auditing more effectively. This research uses qualitative method or conceptual review of secondary data through literature study approach. The purpose of the research is to help identify, analyze, and overcome problems and challenges faced in society. The results of the study to achieve economic justice through zakat, the BAZNAS institution needs to separate its function as implementer. To achieve economic justice through zakat, BAZNAS needs to separate its functions as implementer. This separation of functions for BAZNAS will also reduce the risk of misuse of zakat funds which can be reduced significantly. Meanwhile, regulations regarding zakat can be more optimally carried out by the Ministry of Religion independently in monitoring and auditing more effectively, thereby reducing the potential for abuse by implementers.

Financial Empowerment of Tribal Women: An Inquiry into Sustainable Economic Justice Initiatives and Pathways towards Inclusive Development

The current discussion on development emphasises the importance of empowering marginalised people in order to alleviate socioeconomic inequities and promote inclusive growth. This study aims to explore the financial empowerment of indigenous women, evaluating the complex relationship between economic justice programmes and sustainable approaches to achieve inclusive development. In this context, the research aims to explore the many aspects of financial empowerment programmes specifically designed for tribal women. Its goal is to contribute to the continuing discussion on promoting economic equality and long-term social change. This inquiry aims to examine the complex processes of financial inclusion and highlight the possibility for enabling indigenous women to achieve economic justice. By doing so, it envisions a future that is more egalitarian and resilient for these communities. In the backdrop of India's developmental discourse, this study delves into the imperative realm of financial empowerment for tribal women. Focused on unravelling the intricate relationship between economic justice initiatives and sustainable pathways toward inclusive development, our research aims to shed light on the challenges hindering the financial autonomy of indigenous women. Our investigation centers on the nuanced landscape of financial empowerment programs tailored specifically for tribal women, seeking to contribute substantively to the ongoing dialogue on economic equality and enduring societal transformation. By navigating the complexities of financial inclusion processes, our inquiry envisions a future where indigenous women not only achieve economic justice but also actively participate in reshaping a more equitable and resilient society. It is identified that to demolish patriarchal systems, there are need to expand educational possibilities, close income gaps, promote financial literacy, and combat prejudiced cultural viewpoints. Further, targeted interventions include microfinance programs, village savings and loans, direct cash transfers, and government schemes. Collective efforts from governmental, non-governmental, and community stakeholders are needed to create a more egalitarian society that empowers tribal women economically, socially, psychologically, and politically

Jurisprudence: The Study of the Rule of Law in a Republic

When we understand the ontological, political and legal underpinnings associated with the concept of freedom, liberty and rights, we understand the relationship between rights and laws. Rights can be understood as liberties or as laws. Liberties can be understood as de facto rights or as de jure rights. It is de jure rights that are recognized as laws that provide the basis for the rule of law. It is the rule of law that provides the basis for equal rights and equal justice in an ideal republic. Rights, laws and the rule of law are distinct. Rights are self-evident truths. Laws are imperatives backed by sanctions (John Austin). The rule of law is a principle that purports that the recognition de facto and de jure rights provide the basis for political, social and economic justice. People live by the rights recognized by law. As such, the rule of law advocates two fundamental underpinnings in a republic: (1) the recognition of rights as the basis for equal rights and equal justice, and (2) the recognition of law as the basis for governance. (H.L.A. Hart). However, since the recognition of law is the recognition of rights, the recognition of rights precedes the governance by law principle. What is fundamental to the rule of law is that it recognizes rights, legitimizes political rule and administers equal/blind justice (Meyers, 1213). As such, no branch of government can weaponize laws to terminate recognized individual rights. The maxim of the republic should be – while anyone can be the ruler, everyone lives as free as the ruler. Majority rule and protection of self-evident individual rights is fundamental to an ideal republic. Keywords: law, equal rights, equal justice, impunity, rule of law

TOXIC FORMATIONS: Race, Place and the Politics of Pollution on the Banks of the Ganga

AbstractPollution in the environment emerges as a legal and technical object on the one hand, and as a repository of social and cultural beliefs on the other. What happens when we trouble the idea that these belong to different domains and think about seemingly divergent meanings of pollution together? In this article, I draw from anti‐caste and anti‐racist work to explore this question. Extending critical urban scholarship on environmental politics, I attend to formations of caste and religion alongside judicial and political discourse on preventing pollution to the river Ganga in North India. In our present moment, on the banks of the sacred river, extremist leaders mobilize regulations to target minoritized Muslim and Dalit communities in Kanpur's leather industry. I argue that the roots of these actions lie in an environmental petition from the mid‐1980s which transformed urban environmental governance in North India, as the court decoupled questions of environmental protection from economic and social justice. I suggest that the analytic of regional racial formations helps us grapple with uneven socio‐spatial landscapes in postcolonial cities and sharpens our understanding of environmental injustices by moving beyond fixed categories of difference.

The Case of Herdade do Freixo do Meio in the Emergence of a Scientific Broadcasting Documentary Supported by Agricultural Reengineering

In the text, we identify what we call stages of a project that aims to be “innovative” of “scientific broadcasting documentary” organized in steps of a unique experience. The conditions of the case study are of a quasi-laboratory nature. The context is presented as that of an “agroforestry eco-archaeo-history” of the Mediterranean-peninsular settlement pattern. Instead of choosing a rationalist approach to reflect on the facts under discussion, we follow a Gabriel Garcia Marques approach to make common people experience the essence of what is at stake. But instead of a romance, we opt for choosing the strength of a space to explore, as can only be done on a tourist tour, placing the space (in the image of a character) at the centre of the narrative. The HFM space effectively tells a story that is radically different from the dominant narrative, and which makes sedentarization dependent on the so-called “cereal revolution”. In fact, this text seeks to describe a “conceptual journey”, in nine stages, deduced from our direct observation on the ground, complemented by several interviews with the actors mentioned in the text, covering around 6,000 years of settlement, in space of Herdade do Freixo do Meio (HFM), in Foros de Vale Figueira – municipality of Montemor o Novo, a property that allows to demonstrate the possibility of full sustainability (and viability) from all points of view, that is, from values based on the point of view of social, economic, demographic or ecological justice. The idealized tourist itinerary project (as a possible salable product) aims to amplify the remarkable work carried out at HFM, on the side of stimulating demand. This project aims to “help” publicize the collective action of actors in the agroforestry experience, and in this way, to consolidate itself, in turn, on the side of stimulating supply. Furthermore, in this consolidation of demand, a particular interest can be conceived from the study now proposed, as we think, analysing it from a third angle, that of its effectively “easy” repeatability across the interior territories of our country and not only.

The dangers of masculine technological optimism: Why feminist, antiracist values are essential for social justice, economic justice, and climate justice

Responding to the climate crisis requires social and economic innovation—because climate change is a symptom of patriarchal capitalist systems that are concentrating—rather than distributing—wealth and power. Despite the need for social and economic innovation, technological innovation continues to be prioritized in climate policy and climate investments. This paper reviews the dangers of technological optimism in climate policy by exploring its links to patriarchal systems and masculinity. The disproportionate focus on science and technology emerges from and reinforces “climate isolationism,” a term that I use to refer to the common framing of climate change as an isolated discrete, scientific problem in need of technological solutions. This framing stems from assumptions of patriarchal white-male conceptions of privilege and power that evolve from a colonizing and controlling mindset. Masculine technological optimism is dangerous because it is exclusive, it minimizes the need for social change and social innovation, and it is ineffective in catalyzing inclusive societal transformation. This paper argues that embracing feminist, antiracist values is necessary for transformative climate policies, economic justice, and climate justice.

Getting action for global economic justice: the micro-foundations of transnational activism

Abstract Generating momentum for activist campaigns on complicated economic issues is difficult, especially in a transnational context. So, how did activists get action on tax justice and create a movement that has changed global tax policy? Drawing on 20 years of para-ethnographic fieldwork with the Tax Justice Network, we suggest that activists initially engaged in ‘identity switching’ tactics to access professional or policy arenas from a footing in one identity, to then switch identities to activate policy shifts. A first-generation leveraged multiple professional identities to access forums, build credibility and introduce a tax lexicon to activists and policymakers. These tactics were not, however, replicable, leading a second generation to concentrate on ‘identity fixing’, including professionalization and a tightening of organizational strategy over access and activation points. Here we theorize identity switching and fixing as underappreciated micro-foundations of transnational activism and demonstrate their importance for global economic justice.

A River Runs Through It: Reading the Text and Context of a River

This article is framed and inspired by Jacklyn Cock’s Writing the Ancestral River (Johannesburg: Wits University Press, 2018), which traces the history of the Kowie river in the Eastern Cape and its significance both in her own life and in shaping a specific geographical area. We set out to “read” the Kromme river through the lens of Cock’s “biography-of-a-river” approach, which is both an evocative personal account and a social and environmental history of a river. Like the Kowie, the story of the Kromme river raises issues of competing interests; environmental, economic, and social justice concerns; and the tension between a river viewed in instrumentalist terms or as a complex, precious wetland and estuary. We consider questions such as whether the natural world in itself has inalienable rights, and whether rivers—even minor ones such as the Kromme—should have the right to be protected.

Two tales of one school: competing narratives in a charter school unionization battle in Chicago

ABSTRACT This narrative study examines a failed attempt to unionise an urban charter school. To investigate why this effort failed, I construct two competing ‘stories of the school’ – the discursive narratives each side told about how the school operates, who it serves, and how it fits into a larger battle for educational, racial, and economic justice. I then read these narratives through the critical lens of ‘neoliberal urbanism’ (Lipman, P. 2011. The New Political Economy of Urban Education: Neoliberalism, Race, and the Right to the City. Routledge) to highlight how the school’s official narrative pulled on neoliberal structures and hegemonic discourses to ultimately help administrators quell the unionising effort despite initial widespread staff enthusiasm.