Theory Of Social Justice Research Articles

1 - Access to, and Success in, Higher Education in Post-apartheid South Africa: Social Justice Analysis

The post-apartheid government that came to power in 1994 inherited an inequitable and unjust higher education system whose expression included preferential access to higher education for whites and limited higher educa- tion opportunities for the black majority. As a result, one of the priorities of the new government was to redress the inequalities of apartheid by adopting policies that would widen access to higher education for all South Africans and, simultaneously, ensure their success. This article analyses the progress made in the implementation of equity policies by posing the following ques- tion: ‘What progress has been made in the pursuit of a policy of equity of access and of success since 1997?’ We have examined government-related documents and institutional practices to answer this question. We link ac- cess with success to explain the impact of the transformation agenda on the outcomes of higher education. Using social inclusion and justice theory, we contest neoliberal ideologies of access (Gidlye et al. 2010) as merely increasing participation rates and relying on the economic role of higher education, without paying attention to the factors that should facilitate success in higher education. Methodologically, the paper relies on the documentary analysis of secondary data, on social theory, and on primary data obtained from official government policies and reports.

Teachers as change agents: social justice theory to practice

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to investigate how participation in a multicultural literature course impacted K-12th classroom teachers’ social justice pedagogy and classroom practices one to three years after completion of the course.Design/methodology/approachThis study investigated the effectiveness on teacher practices of a graduate literacy course, which was redesigned within a framework of social justice pedagogy by focusing on critical analysis of texts, teacher inquiry and a literacy civic engagement project. The authors interviewed 20 teachers one to three years after they enrolled in this multicultural children and young adults’ literature course. The authors also explored their classrooms and kept a researcher’s reflective journal.FindingsThe authors describe how participants implemented social justice pedagogy and strategies with their K-12th grade students.Originality/valueWhile many studies look at how teacher education programs integrate social justice education into their programs, few researchers follow their students into the K-12 classrooms to investigate if teachers are connecting higher education course work and theory into practice.

Moving Away from Coercion: Social Justice and Behavior Change in Disability Services

The use of coercion to alter behavior in persons with intellectual and other developmental disabilities has a long history. Despite the work of leaders in the development of Positive Behaviour Support (PBS), the use of chemical, mechanical, physical or personal, and environmental restraints continues, resulting in traumatization, physical and emotional harm, and in some instances, death. When coercion is used, the trust between people breaks down, and the lack of trust is reinforced by the power differentials present when coercion occurs. Social justice provides an avenue for rebalancing power and regaining trust, but people affected by disabilities have historically been excluded from theories of social justice and, in some cases, do not fall within the definition of what it means to be a person in the paradigms put forth by a number of different authors. The term non-coercive has been used in an attempt to reframe behavior change theories and practices, but this term describes the absence of negative circumstances and interventions, rather than the presence of positive and affirming interactions which improve the quality of life of all stakeholders.

Review of research publications on postdoctoral research fellowship: Implications for African institutions

The recent surge in global knowledge production has attracted focus on postdoctoral research fellowship in developed countries, leaving this group of African academics in the shadows. This article reported the results of a systematic review of research of postdoctoral research fellowship. The database of this review comprised 44 mixed sources located via a systematic method. The social justice theory was adopted to analyse and interpret the findings. The analysis of data relied on the use of descriptive statistics and graphing techniques. The review found literature published predominantly in European and Anglo-American societies, affirming the emerging status of the African society in the contribution to global knowledge production. Recommendations were made for funding research activities, curbing brain drain and increasing research output in Africa. The study highlighted milestones of progress along topics, methodologies and “blind spots” for future research practice and apprises evidence based decision making by policy makers.

Can Social Groups Be Units of Normative Concern?

In social justice theory, it seems both important, but also potentially normatively and metaphysically suspect, to treat social groups as units of normative concern. This is also the source of much current controversy surrounding social justice politics. I argue that normative individualism is a (correct) metaethical clarification, but not necessarily a binding guide for all other (non-metaethical) normative theory or practice in the way we might assume. Supra-individual social entities can, in fact, be the irreducible subjects of concern in valid normative evaluations or prescriptions, owing to future-relevant causal properties. However, this idea is complex and requires careful elucidation. I address likely objections pertaining to group definitions, social ontology, conceptions of causation, counterfactuals, and the non-identity problem.

Green Guidance: A Career Education Theory of Social Justice in an Environmental Age

Green Guidance: A Career Education Theory of Social Justice in an Environmental Age

A review of prominent theories in perceived CSR-employee outcomes link in hospitality literature

Researchers’ interests to corporate social responsibility (CSR) concept is increasing in tourism and hospitality literature. Thus far, many papers published that examined what, how and when CSR practices provide economic returns including financial performance and various stakeholders’ positive reactions. Although there are many papers related CSR-financial performance, as a critical stakeholder, employees’ reactions to CSR practices are underinvestigated. Current study seeks to extend Boğan’s (2020a) initial research by providing the key tenets of prominent theories that provide a theoretical foundation for researchers interested in investigating employees’ reactions to CSR practices in hospitality industry. These theories include social identity theory, social exchange theory, stakeholder theory, self-determination theory, justice theory and signaling theory. We explicate the underlying psychological processes in CSR-employee outcomes link by drawing arguments from these critical six theories. The study will provide some important theoretical baseline for future researchers whose research interests include perceived CSR-employee outcomes link.

The Triple Day Thesis: Theorising Motherhood as a Capability and a Capability Suppressor Within Martha Nussbaum’s Feminist Philosophical Capability Theory

ABSTRACT The theorising of motherhood as a capability and a capability suppressor is critical to emancipatory discourse and practice within human development and to addressing through public policy, social injustice against women due to their role as mothers. I conceptualise motherhood as a combined reproductive capability that gives women the capability to function as mothers. Generally, by capability suppression, I mean features of a person’s present capability that are likely to limit other current or potential capabilities of that person to function – suppressive functioning – while those same features simultaneously play a fertile role in promoting the capabilities or functionings of others – fertile functioning. Maternal capability suppression is therefore the limitation of a mother’s capabilities to function due to the instrumental role of childrearing. A mother’s lack of freedom to engage in the triple day of self-reproduction due to maternal capability suppression explains the triple day problem. To address the triple day problem, the paper draws on Martha Nussbaum’s capability theory of social justice to develop and explain the specific tragic conflict of capability suppression inherent in motherhood. The paper further proposes motherhood compensation as a complement to Nussbaum’s fair-bargain approach of promoting childcare and economic options.

The Abuse of Ownership: A Social Justice Perspective

Abstract Given that property rights are politically sensitive, and that the right of ownership is the most extensive property right, this article undertakes a political analysis of the so-called abuse of ownership doctrine as a private law limitation to the right of ownership. The notion of the abuse of rights as is defined and described by the Serbian academic, Professor Vodinelić, is explained, and examined with respect to how it fits into four different social justice theories. This analysis shows that the doctrine of abuse of rights would change in structure, and in the way it is applied, depending on the underlying value system which is adopted in a society.

Environmental Justice and its geographical aspects in Hungary

In recent decades, environmental justice has become a defining concept in socio-spatial inequality research, political debates, and activism. Environmental justice research, which is essentially based on theories of social and spatial justice and providesa normative framework for thinking, focuses on the unequal distribution of environmental harms and risks and their social consequences. Environmental justice research aims to explore the economic, social, health, and legal differences that individuals and groups face in their environment as a result of environmental processes, decision making, power relations, and law enforcement practices. This is largely related to the subjective perception of individuals and the perception of injustices by different actors. In the vast majority of environmental justice studies, spatiality provides a framework for interpreting and understanding environmentally unjust situations and processes. Environmental justice is therefore not only a natural, but also a socially dependent phenomenon, in which the key element is nevertheless the non-human factor (e.g. environmental events such as floods), which affects individuals and groups indifferent ways. As a result, an environmentally unjust state and situation may occur. The evolved injustices also interact with inherited spatial inequalities, existing socioeconomic systems, and the institutional structures that originally shape them. This paper summarizes the theoretical framework of environmental justice in geography and spatial sciences. The study adapts the theory of justice to post-socialist and Hungarian specificities and forms of environmental injustice, and examines decision-making processes and the perception of risks. In Hungary social problems and differences have been increasing in recent decades, and marginalisation and polarisation processes have added new spatial patterns to existing inequalities, directly and indirectly affecting environmental processes as well. Attempts at eliminating environmental injustices have resulted in new injustices, or deepened existing ones, due to the lack of a complex socio-environmental spatial approach of interventions. The solution to these injustices presupposes the effective and meaningful involvement of the affected people in policy-making and implementation processes, regardless of gender, age, origin, identity, or income. Otherwise, the unjust situation will persist and crisis areas affected by environmental injustices may develop.

СОЦИАЛЬНАЯ СПРАВЕДЛИВОСТЬ В КОНТЕКСТЕ ДЕПОЛИТИЗАЦИИ ЭТНИЧНОСТИ (НА ПРИМЕРЕ РЕСПУБЛИКИ КАЛМЫКИИ)

The purpose of the study. The population of the multiethnic regions of the South of Russia is characterized by the competition of the ideals of social justice, which are based on the recognition of the equality and freedom of peoples or the equality and freedom of citizens. However, the policy of depoliticizing ethnicity in the sphere of national relations carried out by the federal authorities, presupposes the normative value priority of civic identity. Therefore, the purpose of the article is to identify options for the socio-economic, political and cultural development of the Republic of Kalmykia, which will be recognized by the population as fair and thereby ensure the civic consolidation of residents of multi-ethnic regions, as well as strengthen the all-Russian identity and ensure its dominance in the hierarchy of other social identities. The methodological basis of the research involves the combination of two approaches: the theory of ethnos and the theory of social justice. Ethnicity is viewed as a constructed identity, which, according to V.А. Tishkov, assumes “the subjective perception of the community by a certain social reality and the assignment of oneself to these communities”. This interpretation implies “background knowledge embodied in people and embedded in institutional routines and practices through which people perceive and identify objects, places, persons, actions and situations as ethnically colored or significant” – writes R. Brubaker. One of the triggers of self-determination, formation and mobilization of ethnicity is social justice (L. G. Ionin) as a terminal and instrumental value. It permeates all spheres of social interactions and acts as a guideline for social and political transformations (J. Rawls) and is a way of consolidating ethnicity, which is empirically verified (A.B. Hoffman).   Research results. Sociological research conducted in 2020 and 2021 (by the method of focus group interviews, a series of in-depth expert interviews and a mass survey of the population) made it possible to determine the correspondence of the policy of depoliticizing ethnicity carried out by the federal center to the expectations of the residents of the Republic of Kalmykia. It will be perceived by the population as fair, in case of federal support for the implementation of large-scale infrastructure projects; ensuring equal conditions for the functioning of the public sector (medicine and education) with other regions of Russia; trust to the people to elect their own leader to the post of the Head of the Republic; resolving the issue of inviting the Dalai Lama to visit Kalmykia; financing scientific linguistic research aimed at restoring the full value of the Kalmyk language. Research prospects. Prospects for the development of the presented topics are associated with a representative survey of the population of the republic, aimed at verifying the hypothesis about the sources and factors of perception of the social situation in the context of the theory of justice and its interpretation in the context of the depoliticization of ethnicity. Another aspect of the development of the presented topic is a comparative analysis of the degree of social and ethnopolitical tension in the main ethnic communities of Kalmykia, the presence / absence of their group mobilization.

How is the State Perceived as Fair? A Literature Review of Social Identity-Based Procedural Justice in the National Context

Justice is relevant in various domains of life, including the state. The social identity-based procedural justice theories (Group Value Model and Group Engagement Model) emphasize the importance of procedural justice from the authority in signaling the group’s inclusion and respect, thus increasing individuals’ cooperation and compliance. This article aims to critically review published literature using the two models in a national context, of which there were inconsistent findings regarding the role of group identification. Three issues are underlying this inconsistency. First, both models could be applied when national identity was salient, such as legal compliance (to taxation and traffic law). Second, perceived police legitimacy is a better mediator when the national identity was not salient (e. g. cooperation in counter-terrorism and crowd policing). Third, the effect of procedural justice depends on the motivation to secure identity (which is generally higher among minority/marginalized groups). As both models are strongly bound by context, the author suggests controlling police-national identity prototypicality on studies about police procedural justice, attitude toward outgroup and relational identification with the police on studies involving intergroup conflict, and uncertainty about membership status on studies toward minority groups. Hopefully, this article could contribute references and encourage related studies in Indonesia.

Understanding the ethnic inequality of the Thai Lao through perspectives on promoting social inclusion policy in Thailand in accordance with UN Sustainable Development Goal 10.2

ABSTRACT This article presents one of the first attempts to understand UN Sustainable Development Goal 10.2 (UNSDG 10.2) on reducing inequality as applied to a major ethnic minority community via a simultaneous application of three theoretical aspects of inclusion theory, itself an extension of social justice theory, i.e. via social, economic, and political inclusion. Thailand, recently under military rule for five years, experiences extreme differences in horizontal structural inequalities by ethnicity. These developmental differences, unacknowledged by the Thai state, nonetheless affect state-minority relations, particularly the relationship between the dominant Central Thai ethnic community and the Thai Lao (TL) ethnic community. The general policy prescription to address such inequalities by ethnicity is to promote greater inclusion, as in UNSDG 10.2. As the state does not properly recognise the TL, this is problematic. This study applied a novel theoretical framework to obtain and analyse opinions from ‘Establishment’ and ‘Local Government Officials’ (LGO) samples as to whether and how to promote greater inclusion.

The relational navigator: a pedagogical reframing of widening educational participation for care-experienced young people

Young people in state care not only lose support, usually at 18 years of age, but also experience unequal participation in post-secondary education. This has raised concern about the importance of widening participation (WP) for care-experienced young people (CEYP). However, CEYP are often institutionally stigmatised and this could be worsened by WP interventions that are framed by deficit discourses. Weaving together social pedagogies and social justice theories, the article aims to reframe WP away from deficit discourses through recognition of the systemic, structural and cultural inequalities that most CEYP must navigate to access formal education. We introduce the concept of the relational navigator , in which a pedagogical relationship enables the navigator to ‘pilot’ through complex systems and transitional processes in collaboration with, and through ‘walking alongside’, the CEYP with respect to their lived contexts and experiences. This article draws from the reflections of WP navigators situated in two small-scale WP projects, one in an English museum and the other in an Australian university. Our analysis of the reflections of the WP project navigators is offered as a preliminary exploration of the potential the relational navigator as a way to shift deficit discourses and work towards a reframing of WP through a social pedagogical perspective.

The relational navigator: a pedagogical reframing of widening educational participation for care-experienced young people

Young people in state care not only lose support, usually at 18 years of age, but also experience unequal participation in post-secondary education. This has raised concern about the importance of widening participation (WP) for care-experienced young people (CEYP). However, CEYP are often institutionally stigmatised and this could be worsened by WP interventions that are framed by deficit discourses. Weaving together social pedagogies and social justice theories, the article aims to reframe WP away from deficit discourses through recognition of the systemic, structural and cultural inequalities that most CEYP must navigate to access formal education. We introduce the concept of therelational navigator, in which a pedagogical relationship enables the navigator to ‘pilot’ through complex systems and transitional processes in collaboration with, and through ‘walking alongside’, the CEYP with respect to their lived contexts and experiences. This article draws from the reflections of WP navigators situated in two small-scale WP projects, one in an English museum and the other in an Australian university. Our analysis of the reflections of the WP project navigators is offered as a preliminary exploration of the potential therelational navigatoras a way to shift deficit discourses and work towards a reframing of WP through a social pedagogical perspective.

The Capability and Social Justice Theories: Developing a Second-Generation Model for Enhancing Epistemological Access in Flood-Prone Schools in Kenya

This paper draws from a larger doctoral study, conducted between 2013 and 2016 in five flood-prone schools of the Budalang’i division of western Kenya. The mixed-methods study was based on empirical data drawn from twenty-three in-depth interviews from parents, senior school managers, and Sub County Education officers. Fifteen of these interviews were with males and eight with females. A questionnaire was completed by a total of 191 Standard Eight pupils, 49.2% boys and 50.8% girls across the five schools. Focus group discussions (FGDs) consisting of ten pupils from each of the five schools were also conducted. The study investigated the extent to which flood-prone schools can generate equitable epistemological access (EEA) and how they are committed to delivering a socially just educational experience. The research was embedded in the 'critical realism framework' as the overarching philosophy, premised on Sen's capability approach and Nancy Fraser's social justice framework. The two theories offer competing predications that: 1) the development of individual capabilities improves lives 2) the development of individuals should be based on a socially just approach. Findings suggested that to develop individual capabilities, schools need to embark on a socially just approach, especially to learners who are subjected to deprivation. The paper models a capabilities and social justice approach, as a substantial contribution to our understanding of the extent to which flood-prone schools of Kenya may improve individual capability development. Apart from its implications for policy, we suggest that the model should be implemented in schools to determine its efficacy.

Exploring schools as potential sites of foster-ship and empowerment for migrant children in the UK (Exploramos las escuelas como posibles centros de acogida y empoderamiento de los niños migrantes en el RU)

ABSTRACT This article discusses the potential for schools as sites of foster-ship and empowerment for all children, including children from migrant backgrounds. It draws on social justice theories to explore how educational practices can contribute to creating socially just societies. Through semi-structured interviews with seven school educators, coupled with field notes from school visits to three schools in Manchester (UK), the article explores the ways in which educators develop and improvise culturally responsive educational approaches in order to enhance the representation of their migrant children. However, such approaches require navigating and negotiating educational structures and policies, which could leave some educators with sentiments of professional anxiety. The article concludes by recommending the importance of professional training on diversity that critically engages with the subject of who we are today and how this diversity can be utilized to create solidarity bridges and social ties. Fundamentally, this requires schools to regain some level of agency to support the decisions made in response to local needs and aspirations.

SOCIAL JUSTICE IN LAW, SOCIETY AND DEVELOPMENT: A MARXISM PERSPECTIVE OF INDONESIAN CASE

This article explores about social justice in people's lives according to Karl Marx's prespective of the concept of social class. It also discusses Marx's concept of the struggle of the social class to provide a solution for the proletariat, to free themselves from the chain of cruelty, violence and alienation in the capitalist system to achieve social justice. The essence of social justice in Karl Marx's prespective is that if a society has created a manifestation of self through compassion, and the collaboration of a classless society, without violence, and without oppression, and humans are free from all forms of human alienation. Our main analysis is to examine the relationship between the concept of social class struggle and the need for a social revolution as a tangible form of justice for the formation of classless societies and also analyze the inhumane living conditions of the proletariat class in modern society. Marx considers freedom as a possibility for all people to develop their human potential, so that this thinking is the background of their social justice theory. This shows that social justice in Indonesia is a very important thing in the life of society and state for the sake of prosperity, peace and security

Academic mothers with disabilities: Navigating academia and parenthood during COVID-19.

Academic mothers (including nonbinary, trans, and genderqueer parents) have always faced challenges in their profession due to systemic barriers and a “motherhood tax”; however, COVID‐19 has exacerbated already existing inequalities (Oleschuk, 2020). This study examines how the pandemic has affected academic mothers with mental health and physical disabilities, as these voices often remain hidden and unheard in academia despite increased awareness of their presence (Brown & Leigh, 2018; Kelly & Senior, 2020). Here, we share the voices of 23 participants using a qualitative methodology drawing from social justice and feminist theories to highlight the lived experience of academic mothers with mental and/or physical disabilities and their experiences as a scholar and parent during COVID‐19. Understanding the lived experience of this intersectional population can provide invaluable insights into ableist privilege within higher education, especially in the context of COVID‐19 which has substantially disrupted work and homelife routines.

Solidarity and Community: Thinking Today with Jan Patočka

It is difficult to speak about Patočka’s political philosophy because he didn’t analyze at the conceptual level issues such as democratic functioning, social justice or state theory. However, Patočka’s originality consists in analyzing from a phenomenological point of view such notions as community, war, history, polemos and solidarity. According to him, political life is not only characterized by antagonism, but also by solidarity. The traditional concept of social solidarity refers to the mutual responsibility that is established between members of a social group on a common ground. Being in solidarity with others requires becoming part of a whole in which the differences between the parties become invisible. In other words, the concept of social solidarity seems to lead us towards an understanding of community that rests upon a common and solid foundation, or a final purpose. Patočka criticizes this kind of political and social foundationalizm. Political solidarity is a unity of individuals each responding to a particular situation of injustice, oppression, social vulnerability. Those who join in a solidarity of the shaken do not obtain a common ground which shapes society. The solidarity of the shaken is the solidarity of those who have lost their trust in all forms of ideological, economic and spritual mobilization of society because of a decisive event. Thinking about political solidarity allows us to think about the emancipatory possibility of social action and the obstacles to the realization of these possibilities.