Social Justice Aims Research Articles

Us & Them? Entering a three-dimensional narrative inquiry space with white pre-service teachers to explore race, racism, and anti-racism

In this article, two white teacher educators illustrate entering into a three-dimensional narrative space with a white pre-service teacher. The authors explore how their histories have led them to practice teacher education pedagogies that are rooted in ideas of social justice and critical race theory. In order to support the goals and aims of social justice and critical race teaching, teacher educators must be willing to be ‘part of the parade’ of teacher education with pre-service teachers, sharing their stories of racialized experiences alongside the stories of white pre-service teachers. As a result of entering a three-dimensional narrative space with white pre-service teachers, the authors encourage teacher educators to become more cognizant of their roles in shaping pre-service teachers’ understandings of race and racism. To do so, teacher educators must assume a narrative inquiry stance in their teaching.

Pleasure’s perils? Critically reflecting on pleasure’s inclusion in sexuality education

Until now, the inclusion of a discourse of pleasure in sexuality education has been constituted as a ‘progressive’ and ‘liberatory’ undertaking. This article seeks to scrutinize the political and moral motivations that have underpinned this discourse by tracing the origins of its emergence. It employs a series of anecdotes from the author’s everyday experience, as a launching point for thinking theoretically about how this discourse might be ‘being put to work’ in educational settings. With recourse to the writings of queer theorists, I interrogate the possibilities and limits of a discourse of pleasure in regard to its social justice aims. It is argued that the ‘politically depressed’ picture these anecdotes suggest, is a consequence of a particular conceptual framing of ‘agency’ that implies future-focused and advancing action. The article proposes new ways of thinking about pleasure’s agency, which hold in tension ‘leftist politics’ and queer theoretical understandings.

Towards a Decolonising Pedagogy: Understanding Australian Indigenous Studies through Critical Whiteness Theory and Film Pedagogy

This article explores student and teacher engagement with Australian Indigenous Studies. In this article I identify key themes in the film September (2007) that demonstrate how the film can be used as a catalyst for student learning and discussion. Critical whiteness theory provides a framework to explore three themes, the invisibility of whiteness, the reachability of whiteness and the cultural interface. Critical whiteness theory identifies the way in which non-Indigenous people centralise and normalise whiteness within colonised societies, and particularly considers how white privilege is maintained. Interpreting the film September through the lens of critical whiteness theory contributes to translating curriculum and social justice aims of education into action.

Civic Engagement, Cyberfeminism, and Online Learning: Activism and Service Learning in Women's and Gender Studies Courses

Over the past fifteen years, both online education and civic engagement have experienced exponential growth in postsecondary settings. Many studies have addressed the ways in which feminist pedagogies can be successfully utilized in online learning environments, and the activist groundings of women’s and gender studies have positioned the interdisciplinary field as one of the most committed proponents of civic engagement through service-learning and activist projects (Balliet and Heffernan; Naples and Bojar; Orr). Recent scholarship has also expanded understanding of cyberfeminisms, and the ways in which increased access to and use of technologies has enhanced the reach, scope, and quality of feminist activism in virtual and real/face-to-face settings (Puotinen and Falcon; Schweitzer). In this article I will explore the intersections of civic engagement, online learning, and cyberfeminisms, drawing upon recommended practices and examples from my work teaching online women’s and gender studies courses. A review of literature and my own teaching experiences demonstrates that the social justice aims of civic engagement can readily be achieved within online courses, especially when utilizing feminist pedagogies.

Free, Open Source Software Advocacy as a Social Justice Movement: The Expansion of F/OSS Movement Discourse in the 21st Century

ABSTRACT This article argues that the rhetorical discourse found among free, open source software (F/OSS) movements is being expanded beyond the traditional constituency of software hackers to encompass a larger group of non-expert users and other advocacy organizations. In so doing, the initial goals of free software advocates are being dramatically expanded to include broader aims of digital freedom and social justice. Utilizing the concept of social movements from political sociology, this article first outlines the key aims and discourses surrounding the free software movement by discussing the emergence and development of F/OSS efforts such as the GNU/Linux operating system and the GNU Public License (GPL). Second, I provide examples of how the free software discourses have been adopted, altered, and expanded by a number of organized groups over the past decade. These groups, such as the Creative Commons, digital privacy advocates, and global development agencies, have adopted some of the core concepts of free software, while greatly expanding their meaning and purpose to suit their own advocacy aims. Finally, I argue that the adoption of free software discourse among these newer groups is also having a recursive effect upon the free software movement by encouraging free software advocates to conceptualize F/OSS as part of a broader movement of digital rights and social justice. In the conclusion, the prospects for the emergence of a larger technological and cultural freedom movement in the future are assessed.

An Empirical Examination of Women's Empowerment and Transformative Change in the Context of International Development

This paper responds to calls from social scientists in the area of globalization and women's empowerment to test a model that investigates both structural and individual components of women's empowerment in the context of globalization. The investigation uses a liberation psychology framework by taking into account the effects of globalization, human rights discourse, and women's activism within social movements to identify how structural inequities may be related to empowerment. Surveys conducted in rural Nicaragua revealed that land ownership and organizational participation among women were related to more progressive gender ideology, and in turn, women's power and control within the marital relationship, individual levels of agency, and subjective well-being. The study demonstrates that psychology can bridge the theoretical arguments surrounding human rights with the practical implementation of development interventions, and provide empirical support that has yet to be demonstrated elsewhere. The findings have important implications for strategies and interventions that can improve conditions for women and contribute to the aims of social justice articulated in the Beijing Platform for Action.

Interprofessional capital in children’s services transformations

This paper discusses the adoption of an integrated approach to children’s services. The paper opens by introducing the Scottish policy statements that recommend that it is at the level of the school and community that integrated services need to be effective for the aims of social justice and inclusion to be achieved. The policy discourses are analysed to reveal a number of potential issues of contention between the different practitioner groups involved in children’s services relating to the relocation of the space of integration and the nature of practitioner‐, practice‐ and governance‐level relations. The social capital theory is then introduced, and a multi‐level conceptual framework of sub‐types of social capital is proposed to chart and analyse intersections and potential points of disjuncture in the work of the different practitioner groups in schools. The concept of human capital is used to explore questions of practitioner knowledge, expertise and research practices. It is suggested that mapping the capital resources used by the children’s sector practitioners provide a framework to analyse how inter/transprofessional relations currently operate and to identify interstices where practitioners’ social and human capital need to be reconstructed to better serve children and young people, and their families.

Exploring Social Justice for Clinical Social Work Practice

This article explores social work practitioners' understanding of social justice and how understanding facilitates or impedes the pursuit of social justice within the practice field of mental health. Existing confusion and ambiguity regarding what social justice is poses a barrier to social justice pursuits. Analysis of qualitative interview data from practitioners resulted in a multidimensional conceptualization of social justice as social systems, resources, and transformative respect. Clinical social workers in the field of mental health with an enhanced understanding of social justice may be better prepared to meet the profession's social justice aims.

De/reconstructing critical psychological jurisprudence: strategies of resistance and struggles for justice

AbstractThe development of an integrated critical psychological jurisprudence (PJ) continues to elude researchers in theoretical and applied contexts. Indeed, the radical potential of a synthetic PJ that furthers the political aims of social change, collective good and citizen justice has yet to be sufficiently problematised or systematically reviewed in the extant literature. This article begins to address this deficiency. First, the social philosophy that informs and underscores radicalised PJ is described. This includes commentary on its underlying symbolic, linguistic, material and cultural footing. Second, several well-rehearsed theoretical strains of critical PJ are summarily presented. These strains consist of anarchism, critical legal studies, feminist jurisprudence and complex systems science. Third, a conceptual integration is undertaken that links radicalised PJ’s grounding in social philosophy with its established theoretical variants. This synthesis demonstrates the probing political project of critical PJ, especially as a humanising strategy of resistance and an evolving struggle for justice. This is a political project that seeks to de/reconstruct the images (aesthetic), narratives (epistemology), embodiments (ethic) and reproductions (ontology) at the core of its nascent critique.

Leveraging Conflict for Social Justice: How “Leadable” Moments Can Transform School Culture

It is not a question of whether conflict within a school will occur, but rather when it will manifest and by whom. Often times, conflict occurring between key stakeholders such as teachers, parents, and students is looked upon as tainting school culture or sabotaging change strategies. However, conflict may also serve as a catalyst for larger discussions of deficit thinking or shifts in the educational practice of a school. Capitalizing on these instances of conflict as “leadable” moments, school leaders are situated to leverage conflict for social justice aims. This case centers on an elementary school principal who encounters an instance of conflict with multiple constituencies. She is challenged in her resolution of a classroom incident while recognizing that it also represents larger, school- and district-wide issues. Responding to a teacher’s approach in addressing racist and bigoted language, a parent’s frustration with her child’s schooling experience, and a district official’s concern over diversity and equal educational opportunity, the principal is thrust into the micropolitical center of a school and moved to conceptualize how leadership for social justice may be infused into the situation.

Social Work Intellectuals in the Twenty‐First Century: Critical Social Theory, Critical Social Work and Public Engagement

In this age of neo‐liberalism, characterized by a shrinking welfare state with policies that reinforce individualist values over commitment to the collective, there is an increasing need for social work academics to promote social justice goals through public discourse. At the same time, institutional pressures to ‘publish or perish’ are keeping many academics from engaging in the public sphere. How are social work academics dealing with conflicting values of social work as a unique discipline with social justice aims, and an institutional culture that rewards individual pursuits over public engagement? How can critical social theories help social work intellectuals justify public engagement as an integral part of their academic work? What can the ‘profession’ do to promote and support greater public engagement so that social workers working on the front lines, confined from speaking out for fear of reprisal, feel that they are part of a unified voice fighting for social and economic justice?

Redesigning children's services: mapping interprofessional social capital

This paper presents an analysis of the policy themes of service integration, social justice and social inclusion which underpin the integrated community schools policy initiative in Scotland. That initiative is identified as an important vehicle for the Scottish Executive Government's aim of integrating children's services with the overarching goal of creating greater inclusion and social justice. The main argument in the paper is that it is at the level of the school ‘hub’ that integrated work amongst practitioners and across children's public services needs to be effective if the policy aims of social justice and inclusion are to be achieved. The concept of social capital is applied to the issue of how practitioners from other agencies, now charged to work in schools, construct new professional ties and networks. The conclusion suggests that a mapping of types and levels of social capital offers a fruitful conceptual framework to examine changing interprofessional ties.

Clinical Social Workers: Advocates for Social Justice

Advocacy activities provide an avenue for all social workers to connect their practice with the profession’s aim of social justice. In fact, it is this social justice connection to the advocacy role that may distinguish social work from other professions. Yet advocacy remains a controversial practice for many clinical social workers. This study reports on one aspect of a larger study (McLaughlin, 2006), which examined how clinical social workers in mental health conceptualized social justice as part of their work. The data revealed a strong relationship exists between clinical social work practice, social justice and advocacy. The concept of advocacy that emerged from the data was multi-dimensional and included strategies that were instrumental, educational, and practical.

The institutional analysis of the market

The analysis of the market constitutes perhaps one of the most controversial aspects in the study of economic systems. In fact, such analysis lies at the juncture of significant aspects of economic and social structure: in particular, public action and private initiative, forms of competition, and the related concepts of capitalism, socialism, sustainable development, participation and democracy. In order to enquire into these complex relations, we employ, in an interdisciplinary and pluralistic perspective, a number of contributions from institutional economics and other social and psychological theories. In the analysis of such issues, these theories can contribute to shed light on the following intertwined aspects: (1) the structure of collective action; (2) the relations between market and nonmarket arrangements; (3) the nature of market failures and imperfections; (4) the problems of coordination between the various policies bearing on the market structure, which are also considered in their supranational dimension and, thus, offer insights useful to the development of a green economics methodology. In this perspective, a closer collaboration between green economics and other pluralistic-oriented strands of social sciences can contribute to the formulation of policy strategies which are more able to integrate the aims of environmental and social justice.

Educating for the “Real World”: The Hidden Curriculum of Community Service-Learning

This study draws on interviews with community supervisors partnered with high school students and presents their perspectives on service-learning and youth. The results show that there was a hidden curriculum being played out at community sites that was in part facilitated by community agency supervisors who actively engaged in mediating, mentoring, and structuring the service-learning experiences of students. Agency supervisors' decisions about the curricular experiences of students had a significant impact on the social justice aims and intentions of the projects designed by the teachers. Consequently, it is crucial for schools and teachers to take into consideration the community supervisors' perspectives and interpretations of social justice and invite them into a collaborative partnership throughout the process of structuring service-learning experiences.

My Experience of Interviewing a “Crusader Participant” Tips for Fellow Researchers

In this article, the author describes the experience of interviewing a crusader participant where audio recording of the interview was not consented to, although she was allowed to take handwritten notes. A crusader participant is someone who is committed to the social justice aims of the research and wants to bring about change by his or her contribution to it. The author provides the lessons learned from this interview as tips for fellow researchers.

The virtue of multiculturalism: Personal transformation, character, and openness to the other.

The social, intellectual, and moral movement known as multiculturalism has been enormously influential in psychology. Its ability to reshape psychology has been due to its ethical force, which derives from the attractiveness of its aims of inclusion, social justice, and mutual respect. The cultivation of cultural competence, presented as a developmental process of acquiring self-awareness, cultural knowledge, and skills, is an important emphasis in the multicultural literature. The authors place the cultural competence literature in dialogue with virtue ethics (a contemporary ethical theory derived from Aristotle) to develop a rich and illuminating way for psychologists to understand and embody the personal self-examination, commitment, and transformation required for learning and practicing in a culturally competent manner. According to virtue ethics, multiculturalism can be seen as the pursuit of worthwhile goals that require personal strengths or virtues, knowledge, consistent actions, proper motivation, and practical wisdom. The authors term the virtue of multiculturalism openness to the other and conclude by describing how attention to cultural matters also transforms virtue ethics in important and necessary ways.

Engaging law school students through human rights clinics: a perspective from the United States

Human rights clinics have established themselves as an important way for a group of American law schools to achieve pedagogical and social justice aims. This article is written from the perspective of someone who has taught in two such clinics, with a view to sharing some insights from the American experience in the hope that they will prove of interest to Australian law schools that might be considering establishing such clinics. The article explains the concept of a human rights clinic and the goals of such a clinic. Through the use of case studies it then considers the types of projects that are most valuable pedagogically.

Explaining Odlin Road: Insecurity and Exclusivity

The multiple layers of inclusion and exclusion that exist within a community that prides itself on being tolerant are explored through a case study of protests against a local recovery home for addicts. The basing of exclusionary and coercive inclusionary demands in both culture and democratic rights, leads the author to argue that the identity politics fostered by multiculturalism is divisive, and ultimately runs counter to the wider aims of social justice. The author advocates instead for an emancipatory politics - multidimensionalism - that seeks to resolve and accommodate differences based in class, race, gender, sexuality and marginalized status through community building efforts, and at the level of the state.

En busca de mayor justicia social: la descentralización de los servicios de salud y educación en México

The decentralization of medical and educational services has contributed to efforts to combat marginalization. The planning of state actions, linked to the decision to place resource management in the hands of vale and municipal governments, has enabled the needs of the most vulnerable sectors of the population to be met. However, continuing administrative deficiencies have prevented an effective response by the state which would enable it to achieve its aim of social justice