Matter Of Social Justice Research Articles

Racist call-outs and cancel culture on Twitter: The limitations of the platform’s ability to define issues of social justice

Studies point to the positive role Twitter can play in social justice campaigns. Using Critical Discourse Analysis, this paper looks in detail at one such case: a racist call-out in Canada, which trended on Twitter in many countries leading to its coverage in mainstream media outlets. It had the characteristics, labelled at the time by critics, of ‘cancel culture’, where there were calls for sackings and boycotts. This analysis demonstrates that there should be caution in regard to how social media platforms such as Twitter are able to lead in such matters of social justice. The paper shows how its affordances can work against coherent and careful discussion, fostering fast, simplified, contradictory commentary, where individual tweets load a range of different concerns onto a specific instance. In this particular case, this results in an individualization of racism, which therefore becomes decontextualized and depoliticized. While those tweeting revel in and enjoy their shared moral position, actual endemic structural racism in society remains invisible, and they misrepresent, arguably, the key question that this racist outburst raises.

Drawing lessons from early school leavers in a social justice context: Introductory comments

This special issue focuses on the trajectories of early school leavers and includes corresponding papers from six countries in Europe. It presents a cross-national view on interrelated issues that facilitate understanding of the lessons that can be learned from these trajectories to promote a more socially just approach to education. In this introductory article, the authors present early school leaving (ESL) as a key issue in Europe, discuss relevant good practices and set the scene for an analysis of education as a matter of social justice and human rights – one which requires, above all, the prevention of educational poverty.

In(di)visable: inquiring into being ‘othered’ as a means to teach social justice in PHETE

ABSTRACT The goal of physical education (PE) is to increase student confidence, competence, and motivation to lead physically active lifestyles. Research has shown that physical education teacher education (PETE) students tend to be sexist, elitist and unsympathetic towards social issues. Currently, a gap in culturally responsive and socially just forms of PE that bring attention to racism, colonialism, sexism, heteronormativity, and other social issues requires greater acknowledgement from researchers. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study is to (1) better understand how PETE students might be engaged to take on a critical agenda that would increase their willingness to teach in culturally responsive ways, and (2) engage in more socially just forms of PE. METHODS: Using autobiographical narrative inquiry, three students confront and explain their reactions to dominant discourses that have shaped their identities and think critically about how their own experiences may be different than the students who will be in their future classes. The study uses narrative inquiry methodology to engage with the individual and shared experiences of participants. Drawing on three preservice teachers’ narratives, the author illustrates how a different starting point in teacher education may enrich and shape beginning PE teachers’ capacity to teach in socially just ways. RESULTS: The participant accounts challenge the work of those critics who have long assumed that critical pedagogies are most appropriate for teaching preservice teachers about matters of social justice. The finding that these preservice teachers are capable of understanding and engaging in social justice issues despite social privilege should be of interest to teacher educators because it constitutes a call for change. CONCLUSION: This method of inquiry allows for the examination of tensions and shifting identities that are lived by preservice teachers impacting their conceptions of teaching and learning.

Re-examining a theology of reconciliation: What we learn from the Kairos Document and its pedagogical implications

This contribution is derived from a more extensive 2018 PhD study in which the contested nature of the discourses on reconciliation is explored. It provides a conceptual analysis of how reconciliation is understood in the Kairos Document (1985). Regarded as an outstanding example of a theological response to the problem of apartheid, what is often overlooked is the tension implicit in its approach which, in turn, has serious implications for how matters of social justice are understood and acted upon. Here, the need for political, economic and cultural liberation is emphasised. It is assumed that social justice can only follow upon liberation, and that reconciliation is only possible on the basis of following justice. In this contribution, I contend that those who take this approach are confronted with the danger of self-secularisation, of reducing the Christian confession to nothing more than an example of religious affiliation that may be tolerated as long as its particular claims are not foregrounded. The obvious danger, as may be the case with the Kairos Document, is one of being socially relevant without having anything distinct to offer. This, in turn, has serious implications for how its history and significance are approached pedagogically.

Against the Odds: Protection of Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights by the Constitutional Court of Ukraine

The article traces historical development, doctrine, and impact of constitutional review in Ukraine related to matters of social justice. It is shown that international review of Ukraine’s reports on observance of human rights obligations indicated a low level of compliance during the absence of independent constitutional review by the judiciary. After the establishment of the constitutional review, the compliance was improved against all doubts, whether socio-economic rights are justiciable in the Ukrainian context, and whether the judges are empowered enough to reshape authoritarian policies. Constitutional Court of Ukraine developed a doctrine of social justice based on the values of the rule of law, liberty, and equality, founding a pragmatic balance between the imperatives of individual freedom and economic security. In legal reasoning, judges implemented ideas of the human-centered state and personal autonomy in civil society, close to liberal democratic views, expressed by framers of the Constitution of Ukraine.

Ethics in compulsory education – Human dignity, rights and social justice in five contexts

What children learn through their ethics and values education in school is of crucial societal relevance and is directed by school curricula. As curricula vary between countries, an international comparison is of interest. The aim of this study was to compare curricula to reveal variations in how matters of social justice were described in curricular texts, with a special focus on class, gender and race. Curricula from five different contexts were compared: Namibia; South Africa; California State, United States of America; Province of Québec, Canada; and Sweden. This provided the study, originating in Sweden, with crucial comparative material from outside Europe. The studied curricula were systematically searched for the importance and significance of the terms ‘poverty/poor’, ‘gender’, ‘equity’, ‘equality’, ‘justice’, ‘race’, ‘racism’, ‘human dignity/rights’, ‘equal value’ and Ubuntu. Methodologically, this represented a qualitative content analysis approach with a research interest in intersectionality, that is, in how matters of class, gender and race intersect. The study showed considerable variation between the curricular formulations from the five contexts. For example, texts from California and Québec emphasised equality as a general matter and less as one of intersectionality, compared to Namibia and South Africa as well as Sweden. In general, human rights were emphasised, but human dignity less so. For future curricular development towards education as a global common good, matters of social justice, including sustainability, need critical monitoring. The aspects of intersectionality such as class, gender and race are thus crucial, as is the inclusion of an integrated, participatory view on students’ ethical competence.

Teaching powerful geographical knowledge – a matter of social justice: initial findings from the GeoCapabilities 3 project

GeoCapabilities offers an approach for unlocking powerful disciplinary knowledge (PDK) for children. In phase three of the project, we are exploring how far GeoCapabilities ‘works’ for teachers serving communities in challenging socio-economic circumstances. We connect GeoCapabilities to social justice in education, theoretically. Then, using the topic of migration, we discuss initial empirical findings of how teachers understand PDK and their challenges for teaching PDK. Collaborative work between teachers and academics suggests that the social justice dimension of GeoCapabilities could be realised, with appropriate support for teachers. We conclude with a set of principles to inform the future work of GeoCapabilities.

Individual Obligations, Climate Change, and Shared Responsibility

Eff ectively addressing climate change has proven to be intractable, even as the impacts of increased climate variability have become more prominent. In this paper, I consider the existence of individual moral obligations regarding climate change. Through an engagement with Walter-Sinnott-Armstrong and Avram Hiller’s debate concerning the moral signifi cance of individual level GHG emis-sions, I diagnose a fi t problem that exists in the application of our ordinary ways of thinking about individual moral obligations (what I call the causal liability model) to the ethical challenges of climate change. In light of this fi t problem, I argue that the question of individual moral obligations concerning climate change should be preceded by an analysis the nature of climate change as a moral problem. I argue that, given certain features, climate change is a matter of social justice and suggest that models of shared responsibility off er a path forward for articulating individual obligations in this context.

Supreme Court 2018–2019: A New Justice, A “Capital” Term, and Some Light on the “Shadow Docket”

The 2018–2019 Supreme Court session included rulings on professional practice issues and social justice matters. No “blockbuster” decisions emerged. A large number of cases examined issues related to capital punishment, particularly around matters of competency. Challenges concerning jury selection and racial bias were addressed. Federal sex offender registration was upheld. Thirty-nine percent of cases were unanimous (down from the recent average), and 26% were decided by a 5-4 vote (up from the recent average).

Beyond Science and Technology: Creating Planetary Health Needs Not Just ‘Head Stuff’, but Social Engagement and ‘Heart, Gut and Spirit’ Stuff

I have been involved in studying and working within what is now called the Anthropocene for almost 50 years, and in all that time, not only have we failed to make much progress, but the state of the Earth’s ecosystems has generally worsened. Yet somehow we must create a world in which everyone on Earth has good health and a good quality of life—a matter of social justice—while living within the physical and ecological constraints of the one small planet that is our home; this is the focus of the new field of planetary health. Our worsening situation is not due to lack of knowledge, science and technology; in broad terms, we knew most of the challenges and many of the needed solutions back in the 1970s. Instead, the challenges we face are social, rooted in cultural values, political ideologies, legal and economic systems, ethical principles and spiritual/religious beliefs. Therefore, we have to move beyond science and technology and address these broader socio-cultural issues by engaging in economic, legal and political work, complementing and supplementing ‘head stuff’ with ‘heart, gut and spirit stuff’, and working from the grass roots up.

Democratizzare l'economia, promuovere l'autonomia dei lavoratori e l'uguale cittadinanza nel governo dell'impresa: una proposta.

The corporate governance doctrine of shareholder value primacy was one of the main determinants of the devastating increase of unacceptable inequalities in most developed countries during the last thirty years. This suggests to consider corporate governance as a matter of social justice before than efficiency. Reforms have thus to be viewed in the perspective of pre-distribution – viz. the pre-distribution of rights, capabilities, and powers that non-financial corporate stakeholders should be granted in order to influence the process of creation and initial distribution of wealth and income. In particular, the policy proposal suggested in this paper is the introduction of what we call Works and Citizenship in company Councils. It innovates with respect to similar experiences in European countries (viz. Germany and the Neder- land) by including in the Council all the employees related to a given company, in- dependently on their labor contracts, also allowing participation of workers included in the supply chain or in the business network of a main company. It moreover introduces the participation of external stakeholders like consumers and local communities affected by the company’s environmental externalities. Councils would have legal rights/powers of consultation on all the corporate strategic decisions and a co- determination power (veto power) on all the decisions of direct interest for employ- ees. This allows them an intervention “in good time” on the formation of the corporate strategies and thus can be seen as complementary to Unions-Management negotiations at company level.

How plastic is our plastic culture?

Our deep attachment to plastics exists within a complex set of relationships between manufacturers, consumers, markets, and environmental forces. In this paper, I question the reasons behind these relationships and seek to discover why we have become so attached to plastics, and why it is so hard to break this attachment. The effects of plastics extend far beyond the issue of litter, but relate to our construction of identity and our sense of social justice. In this paper, I will argue that plastic is reflective of who we are, and also reflective of the global inequalities we have created and is thus an important social justice issue. I will employ the theory of political ecology to analyze the consumption of single-use plastics within industrialized countries and to untangle these complex relationships. This theory will highlight the influence of finance and power and help to unravel the role of industry and institutions in the seemingly agential decisions we make as consumers. I will then discuss why the plastics problem is so pressing, and why we need to change our culture of single-use plastics. The issue of single-use plastics has widespread global effects, and thus solving the plastics problem is a matter of social justice. I will then apply a political ecological framework to argue that single-use plastics are an integral part of consumer culture, and lie at the core of our identity as a society. Finally, I will turn to the question of how and if our plastic culture is capable of changing.

A social justice perspective on access to human rabies vaccines

Rabies kills tens of thousands of people every year despite being entirely vaccine preventable. Key global health actors have launched a country-driven plan to achieve zero human deaths from dog-mediated rabies by 2030 worldwide. This partnership has recently been strengthened by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance’s decision to invest in human rabies vaccines for post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP). While nation states are key to rabies elimination, the importance of Gavi's role cannot be understated. Unlike any other actor, Gavi can directly address an otherwise intractable market failure in the inadequate supply of rabies PEP. In this commentary, we employ the Capabilities Approach to identify the barriers to PEP access that lead to this market failure and, as a result, unnecessary deaths and suffering. We show the role that Gavi can play in reducing exposure of PEP supply to market forces as a matter of social justice, and hence redress the inequity underlying human rabies deaths.

Should Nursing Programs at Schools That Prohibit Same-sex Marriage be Accredited?

Should Nursing Programs at Schools That Prohibit Same-sex Marriage be Accredited?

Data Science as Political Action: Grounding Data Science in a Politics of Justice

In response to increasing public scrutiny and awareness of the social harms associated with data-driven algorithms, the field of data science has rushed to adopt ethics training and principles. Such efforts, however, are ill-equipped to address broad matters of social justice. Instead of a narrow vision of ethics grounded in vague principles and professional codes of conduct, I argue, the field must embrace politics (by which I mean not simply debates about specific political parties and candidates but more broadly the collective social processes that influence rights, status, and resources across society). Data scientists must recognize themselves as political actors engaged in normative constructions of society and, as befits political practice, evaluate their work according to its downstream impacts on people’s lives. I justify this notion in two parts: first, by articulating why data scientists must recognize themselves as political actors, and second, by describing how the field can evolve toward a deliberative and rigorous grounding in a politics of social justice. Part 1 responds to three arguments that are commonly invoked by data scientists when they are challenged to take political positions regarding their work: “I’m just an engineer,” “Our job isn’t to take political stances,” and “We should not let the perfect be the enemy of the good.” In confronting these arguments, I articulate how attempting to remain apolitical is itself a political stance — a fundamentally conservative one (in the sense of maintaining the status quo rather than in relation to any specific political party or movement) — and why the field’s current attempts to promote “social good” dangerously rely on vague and unarticulated political assumptions. Part 2 proposes a framework for what a politically engaged data science could look like and how to achieve it. Recognizing the challenge of reforming the field of data science in this manner, I conceptualize the process of incorporating politics into data science as following a sequence of four stages: becoming interested in directly addressing social issues, recognizing the politics underlying these issues, redirecting existing methods toward new applications that challenge oppression, and developing practices and methods for working with communities as productive partners in movements for social justice. The path ahead does not require data scientists to abandon their technical expertise, but does require them to expand their notions of what problems to work on and how to engage with social issues.

Afterword: Literary Antidotes to the Toxin That Is Ageism

AfterwordLiterary Antidotes to the Toxin That Is Ageism Kathleen Woodward (bio) At the enlivening multidisciplinary conference on aging held at Trent University in May 2019, the bracing cultural critic Margaret Morganroth Gullette, author of the important book Aged by Culture (2004), lamented in passing that the orbit of our inquiry was not larger and more ambitious—age studies rather than aging. With uncanny timing, a few days later I received a welcome email from Sari Edelstein about the special issue of Studies in American Fiction on critical approaches to age, from infancy to old age, that she and Melanie Dawson were editing. And here it is! Age studies. Thank you, Sari and Melanie, for this issue and for your strong and clear-sighted introduction to it! As if with one powerful voice, these excellent essays speak to the prominent and insufficiently recognized ways in which age has been a key structuring element in American society across our history.1 As Edelstein and Dawson stress, age is a fundamental category for understanding the distribution of power, vulnerability, and security. At work is the pervasive social logic of the American youth-age system in which youth is accorded positive value and old age negative value. How are these values distributed? By whom? Largely by those inhabiting the long age phase of adulthood. Taken together, these deeply researched and thoughtful contributions to Studies in American Fiction uncover, chart, and challenge the dominant discourses of age in the United States across the life course with a focus on age-related narratives of development and decline. How might we build on the insights of these essays as well as ensure that the clarion call of its editors to address issues of age as matters of social justice is heard? More specifically, as scholars and teachers of American literature, how can we draw on our knowledge, learn more, and reach publics beyond our professional journals, including the space of the classroom? It is not obvious how to do so. I am mindful it was not so [End Page 373] many years ago that I developed a graduate seminar in age studies. The title was "Age: The Missing Category in Cultural Studies," and I was proud of my syllabus. It included sections on youth subcultures, theories and histories of generations, conceptualizations of the life course, shifting representations and meanings of middle age, and the youthful structure of the look; the final section was devoted to illness, dependency, and care. Only three students signed up, and the course was summarily canceled. I suspect one of the reasons for the lack of interest is that demographically the student body at the University of Washington is young, and the ideological and existential issues of age seem to undergraduate and graduate students so much less compelling—and urgent—than other issues of social justice. Along with this special issue, my experience this past summer of giving a lecture on ageism as part of a quarter-long lunchtime series on equity, diversity, and inclusion to the staff of the University of Washington's continuing education division has prompted me to think afresh about what new directions we might take in literary studies as age studies. In my talk, titled, "Ageism: A Toxin Pervasive in Our Culture," I offered multiple examples of ageism and the decline narrative of aging. They ranged from the all-important context of the first use of the term in the United States in 1969 (race and class as well as age were involved) and Susan Sontag's 1972 essay on the double standard of aging (fifty years later it is still breaking news that in America women are typically understood as old at a younger age than men) to the 2002 feature film About Schmidt and a 2013 AARP study of age discrimination in the workplace.2 There were some seventy-five people in attendance, representing a wide range of ages from twenty to sixty. Most stayed beyond the first hour for another thirty minutes of discussion. For many, the idea of ageism was new, even if the unwitting practice of it (a form of implicit bias) as well as the experience of it (including internalized ageism...

The Supreme Court 2017–2018: Justice Kennedy, Wedding Cakes, and Immigration

The 2017–2018 Supreme Court session included rulings on professional practice issues and social justice matters. Several cases examined issues related to capital punishment and the availability of psychological services. Challenges concerning jury selection and racial bias were addressed. A narrow decision was made involving the conflict between gay rights and religious rights. Twenty-six percent of cases were decided by a 5-4 vote, and only 39% of decisions were unanimous.

Sustainability in the German School System: Inclusion of Minorities into the Teacher Education Workforce

Abstract There is no doubt about the necessity for the inclusion and the integration of minority groups in German school system. Although there are different recognised politics and developments within the school policy of the 16 federal states in Germany, there are also common important political issues. While heterogeneity in minority groups is emphasised, the under-representation of minority groups in the education workforce can also be recognised. Of course, this can be seen not only as a matter of social justice, but also as a question of a responsible integration-policy by the (national) state, its political system, institutions, and culture. The present study outlines the problems and chances which are connected with the practical work of teachers with a migration background for the school service in Germany. In addition, examples of good practice in aspects of networks and mentoring, information and awareness-raising are indicated.

Controlling Healthcare Costs: Just Cost Effectiveness or "Just" Cost Effectiveness?

Meeting healthcare needs is a matter of social justice. Healthcare needs are virtually limitless; however, resources, such as money, for meeting those needs, are limited. How then should we (just and caring citizens and policymakers in such a society) decide which needs must be met as a matter of justice with those limited resources? One reasonable response would be that we should use cost effectiveness as our primary criterion for making those choices. This article argues instead that cost-effectiveness considerations must be constrained by considerations of healthcare justice. The goal of this article will be to provide a preliminary account of how we might distinguish just from unjust or insufficiently just applications of cost-effectiveness analysis to some healthcare rationing problems; specifically, problems related to extraordinarily expensive targeted cancer therapies. Unconstrained compassionate appeals for resources for the medically least well-off cancer patients will be neither just nor cost effective.

In Pursuit of Safe Drinking Water in the Texas-Mexico Border Region: A Matter of Social Justice

In Pursuit of Safe Drinking Water in the Texas-Mexico Border Region: A Matter of Social Justice