Promotion Of Social Justice Research Articles

Muslim gay men: identity conflict and politics in a Muslim majority nation.

While a number of investigations have examined how gay Muslim men view homosexuality in relation to religious Western homophobia, this research constitutes the first account of the experiences of self-identified gay men living in an African, Muslim nation, where same-sex sex is both illegal and actively persecuted. We interviewed 28 gay men living in Tunisia in order to understand how they assimilate their sexual, religious and ethnic identities within a highly homophobic culture. Utilizing notions of homoerasure and homohysteria (McCormack and Eric Anderson ,b), and examining the intersection of identity conflict and new social movement theory, we highlight four strategies that participants use to negotiate the dissonance of living with conflicting identities in a context of religious homophobia: (1) privileging their Islamic identities and rejecting homosexuality as a legitimate sexual identity; (2) rejecting Islam and accepting homosexuality as a legitimate sexual identity; (3) interpreting Islam to be supportive of homosexuality; and (4) creating a non-penetrative homosexuality to be compatible with literal Qur'anic interpretations. We discuss the multiple difficulties these men face in relation to religious intolerance and ethnic heteronormativity, and reflect upon the possibilities and obstacles of using Western identity politics towards the promotion of social justice within a framework of growing homohysteria.

Towards Dual Nationality: China’s Legal and Policy Initiative for Human and Capital Inflow and Promotion of Social Justice∗

Towards Dual Nationality: China’s Legal and Policy Initiative for Human and Capital Inflow and Promotion of Social Justice∗

Critical Reflexivity beyond the Classroom: Social Work Students' Perspectives of Communities in Kwazulu-Natal

Social work students are expected to adopt a critical reflexive approach in dealing with the development challenges facing communities in contemporary South Africa. As an epistemological position that merges postmodernist thinking with the radical humanist goals of structural social work theory, the concept of critical reflexivity is often conflated with critical reflective competencies in the application of learning. Using qualitative methodology, the authors present 74 students’ experiences of profiling communities in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Three themes emerged from the data distilled through profile reports and interviews: reflexivity and conceptualising community in practice, reflexivity in community profiling, and reflexivity and community needs. The authors conclude that a critically reflexive stance is fundamental for students to adopt in community work practice, and to recognise how their own social and cultural influences contribute to the process of knowledge creation and the promotion of social justice and human rights in communities.

Eleanor Roosevelt’s Peculiar Pacifism: Activism, Pragmatism, and Political Efficacy in Interwar America

In the interwar years, American women have played a major role in shaping both the domestic and the international debate on peace, by spreading pacifist tenets and merging them with the promotion of social justice and human rights. Leading figures of the women’s peace campaign such as Emily Balch, Lillian Wald, and Jane Addams have lived their personal struggle for peace as an opportunity to enhance the universal condition of women’s lives and at the same time promote workers’ rights, international disarmament, and the empowerment of the international institutions. Eleanor Roosevelt was not only an integral part of this interwar pacifist chorus, but she also represented one of its most influential voices. Although her biographers have stressed the impact of this period on her political and intellectual formation, a systematic account of her contribution to the shaping of the American interwar pacifism is still missing and this is precisely the broad scope of my article. I will therefore define Eleanor Roosevelt’s peculiar pacifism as one mostly characterized by a prominent inclination toward activism, a pragmatic attitude, and a compelling political efficacy.

Experience of providing cultural safety in mental health to Aboriginal patients: A grounded theory study.

The need for mental health clinicians to practice cultural safety is vital in ensuring meaningful care and in moving towards improving the mental health outcomes for Aboriginal people. The concept of cultural safety is particularly relevant to mental health professionals as it seeks to promote cultural integrity and the promotion of social justice, equity and respect. A substantive theory that explained the experience of providing cultural safety in mental health care to Aboriginal patients was developed using grounded theory methodology. Mental health professionals engaged in a social psychological process, called seeking solutions by navigating the labyrinth to overcome the experience of being unprepared. During this process participants moved from a state of being unprepared to one where they began to navigate the pathway of cultural safety. The findings of this research suggest health professionals have a limited understanding of the concept of cultural safety. The experience of providing cultural safety has not been adequately addressed by organizations, health services, governments, educational providers and policy makers. Health services, organizations and government agencies must work with Aboriginal people to progress strategies that inform and empower staff to practice cultural safety.

The promotion of social justice: Service learning for transformative education

The paper presents the scenario and ontological reasoning behind three social justice projects developed by the authors. It is followed up by an exploration of service learning as a tool to be used to disrupt the traditional in-class learning approach. Service learning is connected to transformative education as a framework to enhance the reflections regarding the three activities. The paper concludes by presenting a model signifying our counternormative pedagogical approach. The linkage between service learning and transformative education aims to co-engage educators with our students and co-enhance our view of social justice within our communities.

Jesuit promotion of social justice. Social justice action at Jesuit universities in Spain, as assessed by teaching and research staff

A substantive and differentiating element of the Jesuits’ university paradigm is the promotion of social justice. The results of a telephone poll conducted amongst professors and researchers convey the initiatives to further social justice that Jesuit universities in Spain have been carrying out primarily since the 1990s. Although still a limited presence, respondents largely favour continuing said initiatives.

Responsibilities of Companies towards Employees

Central to company law is the promotion of corporate governance. An important question in company law still today is in whose interest the company should be managed. Corporate governance needs to address the entire span of responsibilities to stakeholders of the company such as customers, employees, shareholders, suppliers and the community at large. The promotion of human rights in the application of company law must also take place. This is extremely important given the significant role of enterprises within the social and economic life of the nation. The interests of various stakeholder groups in the context of the corporation as a "social institution" should be enhanced and protected. Because corporations are part of society and the community, like all of us, it is required of them to be socially responsible and have greater accountability to all stakeholders of the company. Although directors must act in the best interests of shareholders collectively they must also consider the interests of other stakeholders. Sustainable relationships with all the relevant stakeholders are thus important. The advancement of social justice is thus important to corporations in that they should take note of the Constitution, labour legislation and company law legislation when social justice issues are dealt with. Employees have become very important stakeholders of companies and their needs should be taken into account in the bigger corporate governance and social responsibility framework.

The promise: A cautionary tale of silencing social (in)justice

ABSTRACTThis article provides an example of personal reflection and creative expression as a process of sense-making and of questioning how the authors appropriate and negotiate education reform policies. The authors illustrate a form of artistic activism that conflates metaphorical storytelling, scholarly literature, and personal reflections on our roles as educators. They have recreated The Lorax (Seuss, 1971), and in doing so interrogate their roles in the resistance and reproduction of social (in)justice. In this work, an internal ethical conflict emerges, which the authors juxtapose against a vision for socially just schools and pressures from conservative modern reform policy. Finally, the authors discuss critical arts-based reflexivity as an approach to encourage imagination toward the advancement of social justice in schools.

Assessing the Potential and Limitations of Leveraging Food Sovereignty to Improve Human Health

Food sovereignty has been defined as “the right of peoples to healthy and culturally appropriate food produced through ecologically sound and sustainable methods, and their right to define their own food and agriculture systems.” Human health is an implied component of this definition through the principle of healthy food. In fact, improved human health is commonly cited as a benefit of transforming food production away from the dominant practices of industrial agriculture. Yet, does the use of “ecologically sound and sustainable methods” of food production necessarily translate into better human health outcomes? Does greater choice in defining an agricultural or food system create gains in health and well-being? We elucidate the conceptual linkages between food sovereignty and human health, critically examine the empirical evidence supporting or refuting these linkages, and identify research gaps and key priorities for the food sovereignty-human health research agenda. Five domains of food sovereignty are discussed including: (1) use of agroecological management practices for food production, (2) the localization of food production and consumption, (3) promotion of social justice and equity, (4) valuation of traditional knowledge, and (5) the transformation of economic and political institutions and structures to support self-determination. We find that although there are many plausible linkages between food sovereignty and human health, the empirical evidence in support of the hypothesis that increasing food sovereignty yields improvements to human health is weak. We propose that a concerted effort to generate new empirical evidence on the health implications of these domains of food sovereignty is urgently needed, and suggest areas of research that may be crucial for addressing the gaps in the evidence base.

International Labour Organization (ILO) and Broader Civil Society: An Uneasy Relationship? (Presentation Slides)

This presentation discusses the interactions between the International Labour Organization (ILO) and broader civil society. There is integration of non-governmental social partners in the identity of the Organization itself – Employers’ and Workers’ Organizations in view of ILO’s focus on labour. However, ILO maintains that… “...employers’ and workers’ organizations are distinct from other civil society groups in that they represent the actors of the “real economy” and draw their legitimacy from their membership” This leads to reduced scope for ILO interaction with broader civil society described as non-governmental organizations or civil society organizations. While there is provision for accreditation of NGOs which share ILO’s principles and values, they have to engage with the ILO as observers.In practice however, there is considerable collaboration at the operational level with a variety of international, regional, national and local nongovernmental organizations. This could be through technical cooperation programmes and projects, advocacy campaigns on priority issues such as labour rights and trade agreements, domestic workers, migrant workers, and public private partnerships, among others. Global and regional trade union federations collaborate with NGO forums to advance common causes. ILO instruments request the involvement of specific civil society groups beyond the social partners. In a number of countries, tripartite plus forums involving NGOs have emerged such as labour and social councils, labour advisory bodies and multi-stakeholder task groups.There are still some problems. NGOs feel left out of the ILO process. Accreditation can sometimes be exclusionary. Special consultative status for NGOs means no role in decision making powers. Fragmentation of NGOs, their narrow focus, their donor driven agendas, and limited resources further constrain their role within the ILO. Yet it is in the interest of all stakeholders to work together for best synergy to serve the interest of workers and promotion of social justice.

Pre-school practitioners, child poverty and social justice

Purpose – Several ideas exist about social justice and how inequalities can be tackled to help families and children in poverty. The Coalition government released the UK’s first Child Poverty Strategy in 2011. Pervaded by neoliberal ideology, the strategy mentions “empowering” pre-school services and practitioners within the childcare market “to do more for the most disadvantaged” (Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and Department for Education (DfE) 2011, p. 35). The purpose of this paper is to bring to light how Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) practitioners across England have engaged with policy discussions and adopted expectations concerning their place in addressing child poverty. Design/methodology/approach – Using a phenomenological qualitative research design the paper draws upon 30 interviews with pre-school practitioners in three geographic areas of England. All interviewees worked with families and children in poverty and were senior ECEC practitioners within their pre-school settings. Findings – Many interviewees shared the Coalition’s construction of child poverty as a problem of “troubled” parenting. These views pervaded their interaction with parents and intersected with the regulatory influence of “policy technologies” to influence their practice within a context of austerity cuts. This limited practitioners’ poverty sensitivity and their promotion of social justice. Therefore this paper concludes by critiquing the contribution which ECEC practitioners can make to addressing child poverty. Practical implications – The findings suggest there may be a need for poverty proofing toolkits in the pre-school sector. Originality/value – This paper provides a rare insight into how pre-school practitioners have engaged with, adopted and adapted assumptions about their role within policy discussion over child poverty and the promotion of social justice.

Responsibilities of Companies towards Employees

Central to company law is the promotion of corporate governance. An important question in company law still today is in whose interest the company should be managed. Corporate governance needs to address the entire span of responsibilities to stakeholders of the company such as customers, employees, shareholders, suppliers and the community at large. The promotion of human rights in the application of company law must also take place. This is extremely important given the significant role of enterprises within the social and economic life of the nation. The interests of various stakeholder groups in the context of the corporation as a "social institution" should be enhanced and protected. Because corporations are part of society and the community, like all of us, it is required of them to be socially responsible and have greater accountability to all stakeholders of the company. Although directors must act in the best interests of shareholders collectively they must also consider the interests of other stakeholders. Sustainable relationships with all the relevant stakeholders are thus important. The advancement of social justice is thus important to corporations in that they should take note of the Constitution, labour legislation and company law legislation when social justice issues are dealt with. Employees have become very important stakeholders of companies and their needs should be taken into account in the bigger corporate governance and social responsibility framework.

Democratizing Information in India: Role of Community Radios as a Developmental Intervention

Community Radios are a relatively recent phenomenon in India. However, they are an impactful platform and hold a vast potential to reach out to India’s widely dispersed, varied and secluded communities, who have specific local needs and aspirations. Moreover, by providing a voice to the poor and marginalized they are a powerful tool for empowering the dis-empowered. This article provides a historical background of the growth of Community Radios in India, and describes how they are facilitating the promotion of social justice and inclusion, making the remote and marginalized communities aware about the government schemes and their entitlements, improving delivery of public services and sharing and preserving indigenous knowledge and best practices.

Non-Traditional Teaching Methods That Promote Social Justice

This brief article serves as an introduction to the special issue of The Counseling Psychologist devoted to non-traditional teaching methods that promote social justice. We introduce the historical importance of social justice in the field of counseling psychology and discuss current events that maintain the need for further work in this area. We introduce the need for a focus on pedagogy that promotes social justice. We briefly summarize the manuscripts in the two special issue volumes and discuss the broad categories into which they fall. Finally, we call for further scholarship and action related to innovative teaching that promotes social justice.

The Relationship Between Social Justice and Clinical Legal Education: A Case Study of The Women’s Law Clinic, Faculty of Law, University of Ibadan, Nigeria

<p>There is a vital connection between legal education, public interest and social justice because lawyers use their education for the benefit of the society. They render their services to those who are unable to afford legal services and in addition, challenge injustice under the justice system. Law students are trained by utilizing the techniques of clinical legal education and they are imbued with a social and professional responsibility to pursue social justice in society.</p><p>Much of the literature which propounds clinical methodologies in legal education implicitly understands that exposure to a social justice mission within a guided practice setting provides students not only with a key linkage between their legal education and their practice competence, but also with the intellectual foundation for a long-term engagement with the advancement of social justice.</p><p>The proponents of a social justice dimension and clinical legal education often refer to the “dual goals of hands-on-training in lawyering skills and provision of access to justice for traditionally unrepresented clients”.</p><p>This paper seeks to explore the relationship between clinical legal education and social justice using the Women’s Law Clinic in the University of Ibadan, Nigeria as an illustration.</p><p> </p>

Chinese Physicians’ Attitudes toward and Understanding of Medical Professionalism: Results of a National Survey

Medical professionalism has been developing in the Peoples' Republic of China as one way to better address perennial and new challenges in healthcare in an ever-changing society. Among many recent developments in this area is promotion by the national Chinese Medical Doctor Association of the principles and values contained in the international document, "Medical Professionalism in the New Millennium: A Physician Charter." To discover Chinese physicians' attitudes toward and understanding of medical professionalism. The authors distributed a self-reporting questionnaire that included 34 statements and four case scenarios concerning the general principles of medical professionalism: the primacy of patients' welfare, respect for patients' autonomy, promotion of social justice, and professional self-regulation. The questionnaire included controversial issues such as the role of the family in decision making and reporting medical errors. A total of 2,966 practicing physicians, randomly selected from the Chinese Medical Association database, were surveyed, and 1,198 valid questionnaires were returned. Our sample covered 23 provinces and 51 cities throughout the Peoples' Republic of China. More than 80 percent of the physicians who responded agreed that the physician-patient relationship should be a relationship of trust founded on professional altruism, and that informed consent is necessary. More than 95 percent agreed that physicians should promote professional self-regulation as well as social justice. More than half agreed with the principle of the primacy of patients' welfare (62.8 percent), and that physicians have a responsibility to report medical errors and incompetent colleagues (51.0 percent). In certain cases, a great majority of Chinese physicians favored familism and paternalism. The study does not include data on how Chinese physicians practice medical professionalism, or the perspectives of physicians working in smaller cities and in rural areas. Based on responses to the survey, Chinese physicians strongly support the majority of the fundamental principles and responsibilities of medical professionalism, including dedication, altruism, social justice, self-regulation, and informed consent. However, their support for the primacy of patients' welfare as a general principle, and the physician's responsibility to report medical errors and incompetent colleagues, is relatively low. To help advance medical professionalism in the People's Republic of China, professional development programs and medical ethics education should not only emphasize the general principles involved, but also formulate guidelines on how these principles can be carried out in practice.

Citizenship education and human capabilities: lynchpin for sustainable learning environment and social justice

The paper builds on and contributes to literature in citizenship education studies in higher education. Many studies in this field have explored the history, development and implementation of various forms of citizenship formation as an advancement of social justice. However, little has been written on how the formation of critical democratic citizens 2 links with the notion of sustainable learning environments and how it relates to social justice. Studies by McKinney (2007); Waghid (2007; 2009), Lange (2012); and Leibowitz, Swartz, Bozalek, Carolissen, Nicholls &Rohleder(2012) are among those on citizen formation in the South African higher education context. Thisconceptual paper argues that the formation of critical democratic citizens through higher education relates not only to social justice, but also to the advancement of sustainable learning environments (SLEs) beyond physical spaces. The paper explores the normative value of a democratic education theory, Marion Young’s (1990) theory of justice and the politics of difference, and human development principles in advancing citizenship education. These foster both sustainable learning environments and social justice. A democratic education theory lays the foundation for an inclusive and deliberative form of education, while a theory of justice and politics of difference advances better justice and an environment that is non-oppressive. Human development principles set the tone for a sustainable human development, which becomes a framework through which asustainable learning environment is built in pursuit of social justice. Drawing on a Capabilities Approach framework and the philosophy of Ubuntu, with emphasis on substantive freedoms, opportunities, and the thriving of the common good, the paper illustrates how citizenship education advances a conception of sustainable learning environments and social justices not necessarily limited to physical spaces, distributive justice or economic motives, but inclusive of institutional arrangements, policy issues and relational justice.

Native and national in Brazil: indigeneity after independence

How do the lives of peoples relate to the romanticized role of Indians in Brazilian history, politics, and cultural production? Native and National in Brazil charts this enigmatic relationship from the sixteenth century to the present, focusing on the consolidation of the dominant national imaginary in the postindependence period and highlighting Native peoples' ongoing work to decolonize it. Engaging issues ranging from sovereignty, citizenship, and national security to the revolutionary potential of art, sustainable development, and the gendering of ethnic differences, Tracy Devine Guzman argues that the tensions between popular renderings of Indianness and lived experience are critical to the unfolding of Brazilian nationalism, on the one hand, and the growth of the Brazilian movement, on the other.Devine Guzman suggests that the indigenous question now posed by Brazilian peoples themselves--how to be Native and national at the same time--can help us to rethink national belonging in accordance with the protection of human rights, the promotion of social justice, and the consolidation of democratic governance for and nonindigenous citizens alike.

Welcome to a New International Open-Access Journal in Social and Political Psychology

We would like to welcome you to this new journal: the Journal of Social and Political Psychology (JSPP)! JSPP publishes articles at the intersection of social and political psychology that substantially advance the understanding of social problems, their reduction, and the promotion of social justice. The journal also welcomes work that focuses on socio-political issues from related fields of psychology (such as peace psychology, community psychology, critical psychology, cultural psychology, etc.) and encourages submissions with interdisciplinary perspectives.