Justice Advocacy Research Articles

Climate Change Policy: The Critical Role of Legal Scholarship in Shaping Sustainable Futures

The imperative to address climate change has never been more urgent. As the world grapples with increasing temperatures, rising sea levels, and extreme weather events, the role of legal scholarship in shaping policies for a sustainable future is increasingly critical. This letter aims to address the vital contribution of legal scholarship to climate change policy, emphasizing its unique position to bridge theory and practice, advocate for environmental justice, and facilitate the transition towards sustainable futures. By analyzing and proposing legal frameworks that prioritize adaptive capacity and social equity, legal scholars ensure that climate policies do not merely respond to environmental challenges but also contribute to building stronger, more just communities. In conclusion, the critical role of legal scholarship in shaping climate change policy cannot be overstated. As we navigate the complexities of global environmental challenges, the insights, analysis, and advocacy provided by legal scholars are indispensable in guiding our collective efforts towards a sustainable and equitable future. It is imperative that the legal community continues to engage with and contribute to the climate change discourse, ensuring that laws and policies not only address current environmental issues but also anticipate and mitigate future challenges. Let this letter serve as a call to action for legal scholars, policymakers, and society at large to recognize and leverage the unique contributions of legal scholarship in our global fight against climate change.

Developing Empathy Through Design Thinking in Elementary Art Education

AbstractPast research has suggested incorporating design thinking in upper elementary art education helps students develop what are known as the Four Cs: collaboration, communication, creativity, and critical thinking. As an instructional strategy, design thinking focuses on empathy first and provides a structure for students to work through real‐world, complex problems in small groups. This exploratory qualitative case study examined the effects of teaching empathy through design thinking in upper elementary art education. Eight teachers participated, representing public, private, charter, and independent school settings. Data included student observations, interviews, and journal reflections. An analysis of findings resulted in three conclusions: (a) design thinking can foster the development of empathy in preadolescents, (b) art education curricula at the upper elementary level can include design thinking, and (c) design thinking is a valid strategy for teaching empathy. Including empathy within art education promotes a classroom culture that is respectful and understanding of others, with students becoming advocates of justice, equity, and inclusion. As society continues to struggle with bullying, physical violence, and social unrest, teaching empathy has the potential to change how students relate to each other in the classroom, and, ultimately, in the world at large.

Sabri Orman’s Inquiry into Social Justice Regarding al Ghazali’s Adalet-I Ijtimâ’iye Doctrine

Contemporary economics scholars are increasingly trying to understand the interplay between social justice and economics, with Adam Smith’s idea of the rational agent behaving according to the economic tides, detached from any semblance of justice, morality, or fairness being questioned. The contemporary socioeconomic complexities exacerbated by overexploitation of the Earth’s limited natural resources have exposed environmental agendas as a current priority. The Islamic Golden Age gave birth to a documented socioeconomic and sociopolitical literature spanning over 500 years, while mankind faces serious socioeconomic and environmental challenges that call for a unified effort to find tangible solutions, with socioeconomic justice being crucial for this to occur. Al Khaldun’s Muqaddimah [Prolegomenon] and al Ghazali’s Iḥyā′ ‘Ulūm al-Dīn [Revival of the Religious Sciences] shed a unique light on social justice, with both scholars being strong advocates of justice as a basic tenet of a prosperous society. However, the concept of social justice is normally attributed to contemporary Western democratic thought. Sabri Orman’s analysis of al Ghazali’s doctrine adalet-i ijtimâ’iye [on social justice] provides an alternative view with some solid scholarly arguments. This paper presents some of the key conclusions from Sabri Orman’s work on Ghazali’s doctrine adalet-i ijtimâ’iye and also examines some of the misconceptions about al Ghazali’s doctrine on social justice.

Post-Independent Kenya in Ngugi’s A Grain of Wheat and Petals of Blood: A Neo-Colonial Study

For most of the colonized nations, the achievement of independence turned an illusion with the perpetuation of disguised imperialism which most of the postcolonial critics have termed as “neocolonialism”. Neocolonialism can be defined as the deliberate and continued survival of the colonial system in independent states by turning them into victims of political, psychological, economic and social domination carried out through subtle means that exclude direct violence. An inspiring advocate for freedom, justice, and human rights for the downtrodden peoples of the world, Kenya’s most celebrated postcolonial writer Ngugi Wa Thiong’o has depicted neocolonialism in many of his fiction and non-fiction works among which the novels A grain of Wheat and Petals of Blood are most influential. This study aims to show the emergence of local elites in the wake of independence in Kenya where white colonizers are replaced with them in order to initiate a new phase of exploitation. By depicting the major characters and their association with the former colonial forces and delineating various aspects of post-independent Kenya, this study will focus on the existence of neo-colonialism and its fatal impacts on the masses as represented in the respective novels. On the basis of the philosophy of neocolonialism by scholars like Frantz Fanon, Kwame Nkrumah and Ngugi himself, this study will also showcase how Ngugi sketches the continuation of classism and the prevalence of bourgeoisies in his novel A Grain of Wheat and Petals of Blood.

Social Justice as Ontology: The Intersection of Black Evaluators’ Identities, Roles, and Practice

Violence, marginalization, oppression, exploitation, erasure, and injustice are cornerstones of the Black experience in the United States. Despite seemingly insurmountable challenges, Black people have worked diligently and competently to earn spaces within the present-day professional arena. While the experiences of Black professionals have been investigated in multiple fields, little is known about Black evaluators. This study aimed to investigate Black evaluators’ experiences in an attempt to understand the intersectionality of their identities, roles, and practice and to ensure voices and contributions of Black evaluators are highlighted. We conducted 26 interviews with Black evaluators across academic, government, nonprofit, philanthropic, and private sectors. We found race and advocate for social justice are central to Black evaluators’ identities, roles, and practice. We developed a thematic framework as a result of our analysis and interpretations of the ways in which Black evaluators’ identities impacted their perceptions of their professional role and practice.

The Climate Justice Community: Theoretical Radicals and Practical Pragmatists?

ABSTRACT The objective of this paper is to promote a better understanding of the link between normative climate justice claims—originating in Political Theory and Philosophy—and concrete social practices of the climate justice movement active at the international climate negotiations. We argue that the climate justice movement can be understood as a community of practice. Empirically, we zoom into this community of practice and comparatively analyse three case studies on human rights networks, faith-based groups and gender justice advocates. Methodologically, our analysis is based on a review of primary and secondary documents, participatory observations and expert interviews at the climate negotiations in Warsaw (2013), Bonn (2014), and Paris (2015) and via skype/phone (2013–2016). Our analysis reveals that each network within the community of practice—even those with more radical objectives—minimise the demands formulated at the outset in order to successfully cooperate with state negotiators.

Outsider at home: Reading Babasaheb Ambedkar as a radical, decolonial psychologist.

Known primarily as the architect of the constitution of India, Babasaheb Ambedkar was also a human rights lawyer, an economist, a social justice advocate, and a polymath. Yet his story is often overlooked in favor of national leaders such as Gandhi. This study highlights Ambedkar as a visionary who called for a radical and new psychology of self that was anchored in ideas of social justice, equity and full participation. Furthermore this study fills the gap in the field of psychobiography which rarely reflects the cultural lives and experiences of the Global South. This study follows the psychobiographical method and uses memoirs, essays, speeches, and biographies as data. Three "turning points" in Ambedkar's life are examined: (1) Early childhood experiences of being an "untouchable"; (2) Returning to India for employment after completing his doctorate in the U.S.; (3) Converting to Buddhism in later life. Using a decolonial theoretical lens, we analyze the multiple ways that he experienced being colonized and dehumanized. As he defied the caste structures within his own culture and resisted colonialism, Ambedkar developed a syncretic politics of resistance that emphasized the creation of a decolonized Dalit self and community.

An Eye for Injustice: Robert C. Sims and Minidoka ed. by Susan M. Stacy

Reviewed by: An Eye for Injustice: Robert C. Sims and Minidoka ed. by Susan M. Stacy Cherstin M. Lyon AN EYE FOR INJUSTICE: ROBERT C. SIMS AND MINIDOKA edited by Susan M. Stacy Washington State University Press: Pullman, Washington, 2020. Illustrations, maps, bibliography, notes, index. 246 pages. $21.95, paper. An Eye for Injustice has two main subjects: Japanese American experiences during World War II in Minidoka, Idaho, and the Pacific Northwest; and Robert C. Sims, historian of Minidoka. Sims taught at Boise State University from 1970s through 1999, where he researched, wrote about, and spoke publicly about the experiences of Japanese Americans during World War II, with his attention focusing on Minidoka and Idaho. Most of the work Sims published was meant for a narrow audience of other historians. When Sims died in 2015, his family gave his research and manuscripts to Boise State University. The resulting book became a mechanism by which his research could be shared with a broader audience and his legacy as an advocate for truth and justice preserved. The contributions of this volume are many. Minidoka is less studied than other sites of Japanese incarceration. Yet, it has joined other preserved sites and is now administered as a part of the National Parks system. This volume contributes information about Minidoka within [End Page 406] the larger framework of wartime incarceration in Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. It also documents the process by which Minidoka became a National Historic Site. Importantly, it also documents the people who were instrumental in this process, including Robert C. Sims and others who played active, pivotal roles in preserving the history of Minidoka and demanding that the story be shared with future generations, even when some argued for a more patriotic, whitewashed approach to American history. The book is divided into three sections. Section one brings together eleven essays and speeches Robert Sims wrote, beginning with an overview of Japanese Americans in Idaho, followed by chapters focusing on various aspects of that history, including: Idaho’s Gov. Chase Clark; the lives and contributions of Japanese American farm laborers in Idaho and Oregon; those Japanese Americans who “voluntarily” left the coastal areas for relocation to the “free zone”; the loyalty questionnaire; military service; relocation after the war; and notes on terminology and the euphemisms of wartime policies excluding and incarcerating Japanese Americans. Section two documents the process by which Minidoka was preserved as a National Historic Site. Section three serves as a memorial to Sims’s legacy. He not only served as an advocate for preserving the history of Minidoka and Japanese Americans during World War II, but he also became a champion of those individuals whose stories he researched, and whose families he came to know personally. Sims became a champion of Hanako Wakatsuki, for example, who served as the Chief of Interpretation and Education at Minidoka National Historic Site and is now the first superintendent of Honouliuli National Historic Site in Honolulu, Hawaii. Bob, as he was affectionately known, did not confine his work to academic outcomes. He knew the individuals he researched in the archives, and he recognized the descendants of those individuals when he met them. He encouraged them in their careers and shared his research with them, resolving decades-long mysteries for families in the process. Sims exemplifies the ethics of a publicly engaged scholar, who serves the public good in many large and very small but significant ways. The research that Sims painstakingly documented for many years of his life lives on at Boise State University. This book offers broad audiences an overview of the effects of war and wartime policies of exclusion and incarceration on Japanese Americans, particularly in the states of Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. Those interested in learning more will certainly want to read more deeply, particularly into topics such as the draft, the loyalty questionnaire, and draft resistance. An exciting contribution of this volume for even more well-read historians are the chapters on the process by which Minidoka became a National Historic Site, and the impact that Sims had on individuals whose families were incarcerated in Minidoka. This book effectively and poignantly preserves the lasting legacy of the individuals, including...

The Fierce Life of Grace Holmes Carlson: Catholic Socialist Feminist by Donna Haverty-Stacke

Reviewed by: The Fierce Life of Grace Holmes Carlson: Catholic Socialist Feminist by Donna Haverty-Stacke Janine Giordano Drake The Fierce Life of Grace Holmes Carlson: Catholic Socialist Feminist. By Donna Haverty-Stacke. New York: New York University Press, 2021. 312 pp. $50.00. In the Cold War-era narratives of U.S. history that predominated the twentieth century, radical socialism and Christianity were inherently opposed to one another. In this framework, Dorothy Day's [End Page 79] Catholic Worker Movement appeared as an exception to the rule. And yet, Donna Haverty-Stacke's well-written biography of Grace Holmes Carlson, the Catholic Trotsykist, psychology professor, political candidate, outlaw, and Catholic university reformer, reminds us that Dorothy Day is no exception. Carlson, too, had a foot in both the political left and the churches as she sought to change both Christian definitions of social justice and patriotic definitions of American democracy. Grace was raised in Catholic schools under the leadership of Archbishop John Ireland, a fierce Progressive-Era advocate for labor justice. She excelled academically and went on to pursue a doctorate in Psychology at the University of Minnesota, where she also met her husband, Gilbert. For her, it felt like a seamless transition from supporting union struggles during the Depression to carrying on this work within the Socialist Workers Party (SWP) of the 1940s. Within the SWP orbit, Grace and her sister Dorothy found their voices as political leaders. Grace ran for public office and, after she was forced to resign her teaching position due to her socialist leanings, she worked for the party. This decision took a strain on both her marriage and her faith, and for a period she stopped calling herself a Catholic and had a relationship with another man. Yet, less than a decade later and after a brief detention in prison for her political beliefs, Grace decided to leave the party and return to both her husband and what she described as the Catholic Church. In Grace's telling of the story, her return to Catholicism was not a rejection of socialism but an affirmation of a part of her that had always been there. She made a "personal" decision stemming from the death of her father to return to her more spiritual roots. Contrary to some of our presumptions about patriarchy and anti-socialism pervading Catholicism in 1950s, Roman Catholic sisters in Minneapolis gave the former felon sanctuary and respected her expertise and sense of "mission." At St. Mary's Junior College, Grace took on leadership roles in campus ministry. She was also invited to help design a general education curriculum that prepared students for the challenge of committing oneself to social justice, ethics, and truth [End Page 80] while also following a secular vocation. As Haverty-Stacke tells the story, Grace's mature support for a "modern, engaged Catholic activism" was more of a fulfillment of her lifetime of political experiences than a rejection of the Trotyskyist politics of her young adulthood. Moreover, her invitation to Catholic leadership was also a fulfillment of Roman Catholic social and political goals. Grace also traveled and spoke broadly on the value of a Catholic liberal arts education which nurtured Catholics' sense of justice and respect for human beings, and which integrated this with their vocational mission of redeeming and transforming society. One wonders to what extent her ideas inspired Catholic vocational work in other institutions. When, in 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson officially pardoned Grace's felony and restored her voting rights, one wonders who really proved victorious in the culture war between Leftists and American Catholics. In many respects, the interests of the Left and the Roman Catholic Left had become indivisible by 1965. Indeed, perhaps the most significant scholarly contribution of the book is its spotlight on the intimate relationship between Roman Catholicism and left-wing labor politics in the twentieth century. The book leads us to wonder how many Americans who ended up supporting the Socialist Workers' Party were similarly steeped in Catholic labor support throughout the 1910s–1930s, and how many of them also quietly declared victory through the significant shifts in the meaning of "Catholicism" in the 1960s. If Grace...

The police journal Restorative Justice in roads policing

With advocates for Restorative Justice arguing that punitive punishments through prosecution alone do little to prevent offending, it must be examined why restorative practices are not more frequently used to tackle road-related harm. In Roads Policing, the victim rarely has an opportunity to take part in the rehabilitation of an offender for their specific offence. Educational courses currently exist for offenders that cause low-level harm (or potential harm) on the roads, yet there appears to be no voice for the specific victim; instead, they must rely on an offender being deterred from future offending by general education or enforcement.

Presidential Address, 2022-Dismantling Systemic Barriers: Re-Envisioning Equity and Inclusion.

Presidential Address, 2022-Dismantling Systemic Barriers: Re-Envisioning Equity and Inclusion.

Revisiting social work professional identity in the light of the impact of COVID-19

ABSTRACT The meanings and status of social work—and potentially professional identities—vary internationally according to factors such as roles, training and status, as well as political, economic and social contexts. A new contextual element for social work identity is the profession’s response to the global COVID-19 pandemic. This paper considers recently published international literature discussing social work and social work education during the pandemic; and revisits the author’s previously published findings about social work professional identity. Following a literature search, the resulting articles were treated as texts and analyzed using the theoretical concept of interpretative repertoires. The academic literature indicates that, globally, social workers have played an essential role during the pandemic. The importance of professional identity as a source of collective support, pride and inspiration is consistently highlighted. Professional values and ethics have provided guidance for dealing with unprecedented situations, both in social work practice and social work education. Social workers and educators have mobilized around professional identity to advocate for social justice and fairer policies. Innovative fieldwork placements have expanded students’ understanding of how organizations can work for social change. The literature highlights social work education’s vital role in supporting students to explore and develop professional identity.

Tempering Applied Critical Leadership: The Im/Possibilities of Leading for Racial Justice in School Districts

How do leaders make the impossible choice between harm enacted on racially oppressed students and families, and harm enacted on them as advocates for racial justice in systems steeped in whiteness? How do they negotiate multiple harms in Black and Brown bodies? Purpose: Situated in between the literature on tempered radicalism and Applied Critical Leadership (ACL), this study explores the experiences of six Black and Brown mid-level and senior-level district leaders in Greater Toronto Area, in Ontario, Canada. Research Methods/Approach: We draw on counter-narrative methodologies including in-depth oral history interviews and ongoing communication with participants to explore the impossibilities and possibilities of leading for racial justice. Findings: Impossibilities include complicities and complexities, accountabilities and alliances, and different metrics, different expectations. Possibilities include present and future hopes, personal power and voice, and joy and fulfillment. Implications for Research and Practice: This study adds to the literature on critical race-tempered radicalism by offering three important shifts in perspectives about leading for racial justice that blur revolutionary leadership and ACL. These include challenging a politics of representation and the necessary change in metrics, accountability measures, and systemic necessary to demonstrate the readiness for anti-racist leadership; anti-racist leadership as messy, ambiguous, and contextual that make space for complicities and complexities of this work; and anti-racist leadership beyond anti-racist leaders, which recognizes leadership beyond any one person, role, location, or generation.

Psychology, politics, and female empowerment: An interview with Dr. Bobbie Celeste.

In the following interview, Bobbie Celeste, PhD, reflects on her experiences as a counseling psychologist, longtime social justice advocate, and founder and codirector of the Women's Political Leadership Circles. She provides specific details regarding her path to her current position, the nature of her work (i.e., setting, duties, challenges), and her hopes for the future. She also reflects on what she has learned over the years and provides guidance for mental health professionals interested in pursuing political advocacy work. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Restorative Justice in Cases of Seafood Slavery

ABSTRACT Advocates of restorative justice have argued that conventional approaches to criminal justice primarily through state-provisioned punishment neither meet the needs of victims nor significantly deter offenders. To date, limited academic research has been conducted on restorative justice in human trafficking cases. Therefore, in this study, we examine the extent to which restorative justice is being applied to victims in cases of seafood slavery, drawing from two registers of restorative justice for the analysis: participation and amends. We used data from an ongoing human trafficking study in the Asia–Pacific’s distant waters fisheries sector, and we discussed the Giant Ocean case and the Trinidad and Tobago case that were prosecuted in Cambodia and Indonesia, respectively. We found limited evidence that victims participated meaningfully in any way in their respective legal cases, and we observed several deficiencies in delivering amends, especially regarding compensation for victims in both cases. This paper concludes with recommendations for government and non-government anti-trafficking stakeholders to better facilitate opportunities that enable victims to pursue restorative justice processes.

Global Financial Governance and Progressive Feminist Agendas

Feminists and other progressives have long argued that global macroeconomic governance is deeply deficient. The deficiencies have been revealed and amplified by the COVID-19 crisis. The need to radically reconstruct the global economic governance architecture is therefore pressing. Albert Hirschman’s conception of “possibilism” is particularly relevant for navigating these challenges. In the spirit of Hirschmanian possibilism, I make a case for what I refer to as “enabling global financial governance.” I use this term to refer to reforms of global financial governance that could provide a supporting environment for feminist and other progressive plans for sustainability and social justice. I advance the provocative claim that feminists and other social justice advocates should embrace what I term “permissive multilateralisms” rather than “harmonized multilateralism.” I also highlight a number of directions for global financial governance reform that could provide policy space for progressive initiatives, including those advanced by feminists. I offer this paper as a small way of honoring my friend, Eugenia Correa, whose intellectual legacy and commitment to engaged scholarship has influenced me profoundly.

Martha Sharp Joukowsky, 1936–2022

Martha Sharp Joukowsky, 1936–2022

Selective forgiveness and the politics of amnesties in Nigeria

ABSTRACT On whether governments should grant state forgiveness to insurgents amid the popularity of amnesty, justice advocates have cautioned that amnesties could be instrumentalised to muddle accountability. This paper demonstrates how domestic peace processes could mimic existing power inequalities, thereby including some groups and excluding others from state forgiveness. By examining the differential treatment of insurgent groups in Nigeria, this paper unpacks how ethnic politics and resource dependence led to amnesties for Boko Haram and the Niger Delta militants, and how the absence of oil and political connections leave Biafra agitators with nothing to exchange for state amnesty.

Book Review: Diversity and social justice in counseling, psychology, and psychotherapy: A case study approach

Book Review: Diversity and social justice in counseling, psychology, and psychotherapy: A case study approach

Book Review of Kassan and Moodley's Diversity and Social Justice in Counseling, Psychology, and Psychotherapy: A Case Study Approach

An increasing focus on issues of diversity and social justice in counselling, psychology, and psychotherapy has been met with a range of responses and potential paths forward. In Diversity and Social Justice in Counseling, Psychology, and Psychotherapy: A Case Study Approach, editors Anusha Kassan and Roy Moodley assemble an exciting collection of new work from veterans and emerging scholars. This work challenges traditional conceptions of multicultural practice, broadens the range of conversations about diversity, and considers how issues of intersectionality affect the impact of different identities in practice. The incorporation of a case study into each chapter lends coherence to the array of styles and approaches represented in the collection and provides a practical application of theoretical considerations. Novice and experienced practitioners, instructors, and students will find both enjoyment and critical insights in this book.