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Teach your students all about social justice with this enlightening, educative Google Slides and PowerPoint template. Designed to foster awareness, understanding, and empathy, this slide deck serves as a comprehensive resource for exploring the principles and issues surrounding social justice. Use the engaging, fully customizable visuals to delve into topics such as equality, human rights, systemic injustice, and advocacy. Spark meaningful discussions and inspire critical thinking as you navigate through the interconnected web of social justice concepts. Download now and embark on an educational journey towards a more just and equitable world.

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“When you get these jobs that you have been so brilliantly trained for,” Nobel Prize-winning author, Toni Morrison, used to tell her students , “just remember that your real job is that if you are free, you need to free somebody else. If you have some power, then your job is to empower somebody else.”

This is what the fight for social justice boils down to: an unshakeable belief that all individuals everywhere should have equal access to rights, opportunities, and resources, and the grit and optimism to achieve that. 

A concept that has gained increased attention and prominence in recent years, particularly in the wake of movements such as Black Lives Matter and Me Too , at its core, social justice is about ensuring fairness and equality for all people. It seeks to address systemic barriers and inequalities that exist in society, such as racial inequality, gender inequality, and class inequality, among others, which prevent certain groups of people from accessing the same rights and privileges as others.

Here’s a little primer on all things social justice.

3 Examples of Current Social Justice Issues 

Racial Inequality

Racial inequality is an issue worldwide. Racial disparities range from unequal access to health care and education, to experiencing increased state violence such as police brutality and unfair treatment by criminal justice systems. 

Ethnic minorities, such as the Tatars, in Russia “face governmental and societal discrimination and harassment,” according to Freedom House. In Laos, 80% of children under five in the majority Lao-Tai ethnic group have their births registered, compared to just 59% of the minority Mon-Khmer ethnic group. From Brazil to Britain , Black people are more likely to be stopped, searched, and arrested by police, and are more likely to be given longer sentences than white people convicted of the same crimes. The list goes on.

Not only is this inequality glaringly unjust, it costs lives. 

In Australia, the suicide rate among Indigenous children is five times that of non-Indigenous youth. Black women are three times more likely to die in pregnancy and postpartum than white women in the US. In 2020 in the US, George Floyd died after a white police officer knelt on his neck for over nine minutes, despite Floyd's repeated pleas that he couldn't breathe. The same month in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 14-year-old João Pedro Matos Pinto , was shot in the back by police during a raid on his home. In April of the same year, Collins Khosa , a 40-year-old Black man, was beaten to death by soldiers and police officers in South Africa. 

Gender Inequality

The way things stand, it could take close to 300 years to achieve full gender equality at the current rate of progress. 

The global COVID-19 pandemic, conflict, climate change, and a harsh backlash against women’s sexual and reproductive health and rights have erased a lot of progress towards gender equality.

Violence against women remains high , the majority of the world’s poor are women , 1.2 billion women and girls live in places where safe access to abortion is restricted, 30 million girls remain out of school worldwide, and one woman or girl is killed by someone in her own family every 11 minutes , to give a few examples of how gender inequality persists around the world. 

LGBTQIA+ Inequality

The LGBTQIA+ community faces high levels of violence and discrimination at home, in the workplace, and at school. 

At least 67 countries still have national laws criminalizing same-sex relations between consenting adults. Unsurprising, then, that 83% of LGBTQIA+ people worldwide hide their sexual orientation.

In recent years, the trans and non-binary community has experienced a surge of discrimination, which is already leading to violence and a rollback of rights. 

In 2022, there were 327 reported murders of trans and gender-diverse people in the world as a result of anti-trans violence. In the US, more legislation was filed in 2022 to restrict the lives of trans people than at any other point in the nation’s history. Meanwhile, in Ghana, MPs in 2021 proposed what could be world's toughest anti-gay laws with a harsh, sweeping anti-LGTBQ+ bill that would criminalize identifying as LGTBQ+ and having a gay relationship, among other restrictions. 

How Do You Solve a Problem Like Social Injustice?

Before you start thinking we’re quoting The Sound of Music (cue a great rendition of “​​How do you keep a wave upon the sand?”), social justice isn’t some utopia we’ll never achieve. A tall order indeed, but we’ve got to start somewhere.

Step 1: Acknowledge the problem

Recognize that social justice issues exist and are pervasive in many areas of society, including education, health care, employment, and criminal justice. Understand the ways in which historical and systemic factors have contributed to these inequalities. Identify your own intersecting privileges and discriminations you face, examine your own biases and prejudices, and decide how you are best placed to challenge the status quo. Not sure where to start? Head to the Global Citizen app and take our "Equity Hero" challenge .

Step 2: Education

Learn about the root causes of social justice issues and the experiences of marginalized communities. This includes reading books, watching documentaries, listening to podcasts, and attending workshops and events. 

Step 3: Listen, Amplify & Speak

Listen to marginalized voices and amplify the perspectives and experiences of those who are most affected by social justice issues.

Step 4: Take Action

Engage in advocacy and activism to raise awareness about social justice issues and work towards change. This can include organizing and attending protests, signing petitions, contacting your elected officials, and supporting advocacy organizations. We've made it easy for you to start taking action today .

Global Citizen Explains

Demand Equity

What Is Social Justice? A Short Guide for Activists-in-the-Making

Feb. 20, 2023

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• Introduction

Theories of justice

Social justice movements.

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social justice , in contemporary politics, social science , and political philosophy , the fair treatment and equitable status of all individuals and social groups within a state or society. The term also is used to refer to social, political, and economic institutions, laws, or policies that collectively afford such fairness and equity and is commonly applied to movements that seek fairness, equity, inclusion, self-determination , or other goals for currently or historically oppressed, exploited, or marginalized populations.

In theoretical terms, social justice is often understood to be equivalent to justice itself, however that concept is defined. Many somewhat narrower interpretations conceive of social justice as being equivalent to or partly constitutive of distributive justice—that is, the fair and equitable distribution of social, political, and economic benefits and burdens. According to some interpretations, social justice also encompasses , among other conditions, the equal opportunity to contribute to and to benefit from the common good , including by holding public office (such readings are sometimes referred to as “contributive justice”). Other interpretations promote the stronger goal of equal participation by all individuals and groups in all major social, political, and economic institutions.

Another set of definitions of social justice emphasizes the institutional conditions that encourage individual self-development and self-determination—the former being understood as the opposite of oppression and the latter as the opposite of domination. A related concept of justice, suggested by the American philosopher Martha Nussbaum , is that a just society fosters the capabilities of individuals to engage in activities that are essential to a truly “human” life—including, among others, the capabilities to live a life of normal length, to use one’s mind in ways “protected by guarantees of freedom of expression,” and to meaningfully participate in political decision-making. Still other accounts define social justice, or justice itself, in terms of broad categories of human rights , including the entire range of civil and political rights (such as the rights to personal liberty and to participation in government), economic and social rights (such as the rights to employment and to education), and solidarity or group rights (such as the rights to political independence and to economic development ).

Social justice is both a theoretical concept and a practical ideal—an object of social-scientific and philosophical understanding and debate as well as a real-world goal of social and political reform movements. In general, practical ideals of social justice represent an attempt to realize a certain conception of social justice in a particular state or society. Accordingly, such ideals tend to vary with the historical and cultural circumstances in which they are pursued; they may also depend upon current social-scientific understandings of the institutions to be reformed, abolished, or created.

However the notion of social justice is understood, it is naturally grounded in the concept of justice itself. Indeed, the notion of social justice originated as an application of a historical theory of justice to current social problems. Later understandings of social justice have also drawn upon historical theories. Accordingly, this article will discuss the major historical theories of justice and consider their influence upon modern and contemporary social-justice movements.

The first philosophical studies of justice and political authority in the West were undertaken in ancient Greece and Rome by thinkers whose works combined theoretical speculation with generally insightful empirical observations. Arguably the most influential of these works was Plato ’s Republic , a lengthy examination, in dialogue form, of justice as both an individual virtue and a defining characteristic of the ideal political community . For Plato, justice in the individual soul and in the city-state consists of the harmonious operation of the major elements out of which each is constituted: reason, spirit, and appetite in the soul; and rulers, guardians (or soldiers), and producers (e.g., farmers and craftsmen) in the city-state. Harmonious operation in both cases is realized when each element pursues or performs the object or function appropriate to it and does not intrude upon the proper pursuits or functions of other elements. Although Plato’s vision of the just society is strikingly undemocratic and class-based, his emphasis on service to the common good through the integrated functioning of social classes became a salient feature of many later theories. (Notably, Plato held that women were just as capable as men and therefore just as deserving of opportunities to contribute to the common good. Women as well as men, he insisted, would be among the rulers of a just republic.)

Like Plato, Aristotle conceived of justice as both an individual virtue and a characteristic of an ideal (or well functioning) city-state. Aristotle’s theory of political justice has been variously interpreted but is generally understood to encompass the rule of law , the pursuit of the common good (the purpose of the state being to realize the communal basis of the good life for all citizens), the equitable distribution of benefits and burdens among equally deserving or meritorious individuals (distributive justice), and fairness in dealings between individuals (corrective, commutative, or reciprocal justice). Political desert and merit, however, are achieved only by those virtuous citizens who contribute significantly to the common good. Thus, the just society, though based on the competent promotion of the common good, involves a hierarchical social order and an equitable distribution of political rights and responsibilities among ranking members of that hierarchy ( see also Aristotle: Political theory ). Aristotle’s understanding of political justice is to this extent aristocratic .

Aristotle’s view of justice greatly influenced the medieval Christian philosopher St. Thomas Aquinas , who followed Aristotle in holding that the purpose of political authority is to promote the good of the community and that in a just society benefits would be distributed by social rank, with “more prominent” community members receiving correspondingly greater benefits. Aquinas’s philosophy and theology became official doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church in the 16th century, and his vision of justice eventually inspired the measured social reforms advocated by the church in the late 19th and early 20th centuries ( see below ).

In the 17th and 18th centuries the English philosophers Thomas Hobbes and John Locke and the French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau developed influential conceptions of justice based on the notion of a social contract . In primeval times, according to social-contract theory, individuals were born into an anarchic “state of nature,” which they eventually sought to escape because of the danger and misery it entailed or because they wished to experience the advantages of social order. To do so, they formed a society by means of a compact or agreement that defined a set of rights and duties of individuals and a set of powers to be exercised by a central government. Social-contract theories thus attempt to legitimate and delimit political authority on the grounds of individual self-interest and rational consent. Conceptions of justice based on social-contract theory were significantly different from earlier understandings, because they viewed justice as a human creation or social construct rather than as an ideal rooted in objective features of human nature and society. Locke’s particular version of the social contract, which recognized a set of natural individual rights that the social contract obliged the ruling authority to protect, became the philosophical basis of political liberalism .

In the 19th century the English utilitarian philosophers John Stuart Mill and Henry Sidgwick addressed issues of social justice made prominent by the extreme economic inequalities created by the growth of industrial capitalism in Europe and the United States during the Industrial Revolution . Following the utilitarian jurist Jeremy Bentham , who propounded a principle whereby actions are considered morally right or wrong in proportion to the balance of happiness or unhappiness they produce, Mill advanced a theory designed to explain and justify on utilitarian grounds what he understood to be the chief principles of justice, as reflected in the common usage of just , unjust , and related terms. The principles include, among others, the ideas that justice requires respect for the legal and moral rights of individuals and for the right of individuals to possess or receive that which they deserve. Such principles are valid, according to Mill, because a society that consistently observes them (as laws or moral conventions) would in the long run experience a greater level of happiness for a greater number of people than would a society that did not. Broadly speaking, Mill’s vision of a just society encompasses the liberal ideals of individual rights (e.g., to life, liberty, and property), democracy , and free enterprise.

Although utilitarianism was a major current of social thought in the 19th and 20th centuries and thus a major intellectual vehicle of social-justice reform, its explanation of the nature of justice eventually proved vulnerable to serious objections, some of which recall the basic difficulties raised against utilitarian accounts of the rightness or wrongness of individual actions. Some critics of utilitarianism , for example, remained unconvinced that Mill’s conception of justice would rule out any conceivable social order in which the enslavement or exploitation of a minority of the population is accepted on the grounds that it facilitates the happiness of the majority.

Interest in social-contract theories was revived in the second half of the 20th century by the American political philosopher John Rawls . In his A Theory of Justice (1971) Rawls rejects utilitarian accounts of justice (on the basis of the criticism mentioned above) and defends a conception of “justice as fairness.” Rawls argues that justice consists of the basic principles of government that free and rational individuals would agree to in a hypothetical situation of perfect equality . In order to ensure that the principles chosen would be fair, Rawls imagines a group of individuals who have been made ignorant of the social, economic, and historical circumstances from which they come, as well as their basic values and goals, including their conception of what constitutes a “good life.” Situated behind this “veil of ignorance,” any group of individuals would be led by reason and self-interest to agree that (1) each person should have an equal right to the most extensive basic liberty compatible with a similar liberty for others and (2) social and economic inequalities should be arranged so that they are to the greatest benefit of the least advantaged and are attached to offices and positions open to all under conditions of fair equality of opportunity.

Rawls’s first principle ensures most of the basic rights and liberties traditionally associated with modern liberalism and democracy , and his second principle prevents detrimental inequalities of wealth and income and provides for meaningful equality of opportunity to compete for public offices. Rawls’s work is widely interpreted as providing an intellectual model for the modern capitalist welfare state or a market-oriented social democracy .

Despite its wide appeal, Rawls’s liberal egalitarianism was soon challenged by advocates of conservative libertarianism , who charged that the society Rawls envisioned is unjust because it would allow (indeed, require) the state to redistribute social and economic goods without the consent of their owners, in violation of the owners’ private property rights . Some libertarians, following the American philosopher Robert Nozick , argued that a validly derived social contract would justify only a “minimal state,” with powers limited to those necessary to protect citizens against violence, theft, and fraud. Other critics argued that Rawls’s theory does not take sufficient account of a community’s shared understanding of how it is appropriate to live ( see communitarianism ).

As noted earlier, movements for social justice have been guided and inspired by intellectual understandings of the nature of justice. An early and important example of such influence is the work of the 19th-century Jesuit scholar Luigi Taparelli, who coined the term social justice in the 1840s. Inspired by Aquinas, Taparelli propounded a conservative vision of justice that legitimates aristocratic rule by grounding it in supposedly natural inequalities between individuals. Later in the 19th century, justice became a central theme of Roman Catholic social teaching, which emerged in response to the dire societal consequences of the Industrial Revolution. The church generally accepted economic inequality and social stratification as the products of natural inequalities of ability between individuals but emphasized the ideally harmonious interworking of socioeconomic classes and the moral obligation of civil society and the state to protect the weak and vulnerable and to promote the common good. The church’s approach to social justice thus represented a course midway between laissez-faire capitalism, which would reject any state intervention in the economy on behalf of impoverished and exploited industrial workers, and socialism , which would impose state ownership or control of the economy to meet the basic needs of workers and to ensure their material equality. Taparelli’s contention that the state is obliged to intervene on behalf of distressed individuals only in situations where smaller social units, including the family, are unable to address the relevant social problems was embraced by Pope Leo XIII (a former student of Taparelli) in his 1891 encyclical Rerum novarum (Latin: “Of New Things”; English title On Capital and Labor ) and reaffirmed in Pope Pius XI ’s 1931 encyclical Quadragesimo anno (Latin: “In the Fortieth Year”; English title Reconstruction of the Social Order ).

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, legal reformers in England and the United States, some of whom were inspired by utilitarianism, began to apply the notion of social justice to issues of legal, economic, and political inequality, including women’s rights , the rights of workers, and the exploitation of immigrants and children. In the mid-20th century, racial discrimination and the civil rights of minorities in the United States, particularly African Americans , came to be recognized as a major problem of social justice, as reflected in the nationwide civil rights movement of the 1950s and ’60s. From the 1960s and ’70s, women’s rights and the rights of sexual minorities were also major focuses of activists who conceived of their goals in terms of social justice. Later social-justice movements in the United States and Europe were concerned with uncovering and dismantling systemic forms of racial discrimination ( see critical race theory ) and, more broadly, with identifying the various political, economic, and social mechanisms by which members of racial, ethnic, and cultural minorities were—in the estimation of social-justice advocates—oppressed, excluded, and exploited, particularly by white majorities.

These developments reflect the gradual broadening of social justice as a practical ideal, now encompassing a number of themes and issues beyond basic rights and economic equality. In general terms, the ideal that activists aimed for was a society that values fairness and equity for all individuals and social groups in all areas of life; that recognizes and respects differing ethnic, cultural, gender, and other identities among citizens; and, most importantly, that affords a dignified and fulfilling existence for all individuals.

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Best Resources for Free Social Justice Lesson Plans, Activities, and More

Teach about inclusion, diversity, and equity.

Social justice education continues to be at the forefront of K-12 news nationwide. While there are people who believe that social justice in the classroom is an optional practice, we know that treating social justice in the classroom as a choice is ultimately detrimental, harmful, and isolating to our students who experience the most marginalization in schools, and in society at large. That’s why we put together this list of free social justice lesson plans and classroom resources.

Remember that this is a place to start and there are numerous resources out there for you to start or continue your journey. This year, commit to taking more steps to teach yourself and your students about social justice in the classroom and beyond.

Social Justice Lesson Plans and Classroom Resources

1.   glsen educator resources.

Founded by a group of teachers in 1990, GLSEN offers a variety of classroom resources to help educators create affirming and inclusive learning environments for LGBTQ+ youth. Whether you know it or not, you definitely have LGBTQ+ students in your classroom or school. You’ll find plenty of resources on GLSEN’s website, including free lesson plans to help your students develop respect, empathy, and understanding.

Check out: Garden of Kindness (interactive bulletin board)

2. The Zinn Education Project

The Zinn Education Project offers classroom resources and workshops for teachers and administrators  on how to teach “people’s history.” By last year, a total of 87,000 teachers had enrolled in Zinn Education trainings and learned about topics like climate change, Islamophobia, the labor movement, the New Deal, antiwar movements, and how to write curriculum and articles for publication. Classroom resources include activities, videos, songs, videos, and more.

Check out: 40 Acres and a Mule: What Reconstruction Could Have Been (multimedia role-play)

3. Body Happy Org

Did you know body image is a social justice issue? Explore Body Happy Org’s website to deepen your understanding of how the way we feel about our bodies can impact mental health. According to their website, “Body image issues don’t just affect how kids engage in class—they affect whether they will turn up to class in the first place.” Tap the link to view some lesson plans that you can use in your classroom.

Check out: Body Happy Compliment Labels (printable)

4. Woke Kindergarten 

Woke Kindergarten is a global portal that supports children, families, and early childhood educators and organizations. They’re committed to abolitionist early education and pro-black, queer, and trans liberation. Visit the website linked above to access read-alouds, poems, workshops, their mutual aid shop, and a word of the day for some of our youngest learners.

Check out: Woke Read-Alouds (videos)

5. Gender Inclusive Classrooms

One of the most polarizing topics we’ve seen in education over the last few years is inclusive education and equal rights for our LGBTQ+ students in schools. This website not only provides resources for starting your own “Rainbow Club” at your school, but also a library of definitions, inclusive school checklists, and additional websites to support you in LGBTQ+ inclusion and equity. Also, check out this similar-purpose YouTube channel called “Queer Kid Stuff.”

Check out: How To Start a Rainbow Club (teaching guide)

6. Teaching for Change

“Teaching for Change provides teachers and parents with the tools to create schools where students learn to read, write, and change the world. By drawing direct connections to real-world issues, Teaching for Change encourages teachers and students to question and re-think the world inside and outside their classrooms; build a more equitable, multicultural society; and become active global citizens.” This link will take you to their educator resources, which include a diverse range of opportunities to learn about and implement more inclusivity in your classroom.

Check out: Anti-Bias Education (articles and book recommendations)

7. Facing History & Ourselves

This organization offers school-wide trainings, a partner school network, and professional development for teachers and administrators. From pedagogical theory to subject-specific content, Facing History tailors their programs to the needs of your school community.  Here’s how to bring them to your school.

Check out: Centering Student Voices To Build Community and Agency (on-demand workshop)

8.   YR Media

This Oakland-based organization amplifies the voices of young journalists and artists. Empower your high school students to become reporters too! Watch videos by YR Media journalists and set your young broadcasters out to find stories in their communities.

Check out: Women Empowerment and Pink Hardhats (video)

9.     DoSomething.org

Plan your next service project with DoSomething.org! Survey your students to learn what they are passionate about, then help them browse a big list of  campaigns  to conceptualize a project they can launch in your community. The class can then submit a photo or video of their completed campaign and enter to win prizes, including scholarships.

Check out: Vibe Check Guide (teen mental health tips and resources)

10. Educators for Social Change

Under the umbrella of social justice is environmental justice.  In this resource for educators, you will be provided with information about environmental justice as well as lesson plans and classroom ideas for implementation.

Check out: Diversifying Disney (lesson plan)

11. Learning for Justice

No list would be complete without this website.  Learning for Justice is a website with a powerful amount of resources, social justice lesson plans, articles, information, and more about all things related to social justice.

Check out: One Survivor Remembers (Holocaust film kit)

12. Global Oneness Project

This beautiful collection of multimedia includes films, essays, and photography highlighting the universal themes of humanity. Special collections include hot topics like climate change, migration, and endangered cultures. The artwork within all the collections is beautiful, but the bonus is that the web page offers social justice lesson plans for teachers. Help “bring the world to your classroom” and have a look today.

Check out: Indigenous Language Revitalization (lesson plan)

13. IWitness

Explore survivor testimonies with this well-organized activity library for educators. Select language preferences and choose from a database of powerful videos and Common Core lessons that help students unpack hatred. Bonus: Check out their completely free professional development webinars.

Check out: Faces of Intolerance (information quest)

Social Justice Podcasts

14. educators for social justice podcast.

You can find this St. Louis–based, grassroots, teacher-led podcast on iTunes, and it covers issues on race, gender, sexuality, language, and more. Its presence was short but sweet.

Check out: Unconditional Support and Inclusion for LGBTQ+ Youth.

15. Cult of Pedagogy Podcast

Cult of Pedagogy’s podcast is helpful for the self-proclaimed teacher nerds (like us) who want to hear about teaching strategies, classroom management, education reform, and educational technology—many with a social justice lens.

Check out: 10 Ways Educators Can Take Action in Pursuit of Equity (featuring Pedro Noguera)

16. The Truth for Teachers Podcast

Another resource for more than social justice, the Truth for Teachers podcast is a top-10 podcast for K–12 educators. In this episode, Angela Watson speaks with Dr. Travis Bristol, a former teacher now researching at UC Berkeley. Bristol is also the principal investigator for the NYC Young Men’s Initiative, which focuses on recruiting and supporting 1,000 male teachers of color.

Check out: Why Are Most Teachers White Women and How Can Schools Support More Diverse Faculties?

Social Justice on Social Media

From hashtags to influencers, these links will guide you to leaders in education who are sharing their work in a variety of accessible ways to complement some of the resources above.

17. @RethinkSchools

Rethinking Schools is a nonprofit magazine and book publisher dedicated to strengthening public education through social justice teaching and education activism. While their books are fab, follow them and the hashtag #SoJustEdu to stay in the loop when you don’t have time for extra reading. Their feed helps teachers remember significant but underpublicized historical events and stay in-the-know about current events like the #Unite4OaklandKids teachers strike.

18. #EduColorMVMT

If you are looking for monthly chats on language, culture, self-care, and equity, be sure to follow this hashtag. Organized by a collective of activists of color, EduColor is here to promote intersectional diversity and provide expert resources that help teachers do their part in deconstructing the oppression that lives within the school system.

19. DisruptTexts

#DisruptTexts is a Twitter chat founded by Tricia Ebarvia , Lorena German , Dr. Kim Parker , and Julia Torres . The goal is to challenge the traditional language arts canon and create a more inclusive curriculum. Here’s how to participate in #DisruptTexts .

20. @theconsciouskid

This Instagram account discusses parenting and educating through a race-critical lens. You’ll love this account for book recommendations, social commentaries, and critical articles.

We’d love to hear what your challenges and successes have been when planning social justice lessons. Come and share your experiences in our WeAreTeachers HELPLINE group on Facebook.

Plus, check out these #ownvoices books by diverse authors to add to your classroom library..

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150 Social Justice Essay Topics & Examples

⭐ top 10 social justice issues to write about, 🏆 best social justice topic ideas & essay examples, ⭐ simple & easy social justice essay titles, 📌 most interesting social justice topics to write about, 👍 good social justice research topics, ❓ research questions about social justice.

Social justice essays are an excellent tool for demonstrating your awareness of the current issues in society.

Inequality in society should be addressed, and social justice advocates are at the forefront of such initiatives. Everyone should be able to achieve their goals and dreams if they put in the effort, assuming of course that reaching that target is at all possible.

To that end, you should ask various social justice essay questions and investigate different situations, particularly those that surround marginalized communities.

While the civil rights movement has succeeded in eliminating discriminatory policies and gender segregation, people should remain vigilant so that inequality again.

There are many topics you can discuss in your essay, but is better to focus on something specific and conduct a detailed investigation. It is easy to take some examples of data that shows a situation that seems unequal and declare that the system is flawed.

However, the data may be inaccurate, and the causes may be different from what you initially perceive them to be. Many fields will be too small for statistic laws to apply, and so there will be a temporary prevalence of people with a specific trait.

Declarations of premature conclusions and calls to action based on these conjectures are not productive and will generally lead to harm.

Be sure to consider evidence from both sides when discussing the topic of injustice, especially in its sensitive applications.

The case of police officers and the racial disparity in arrests is a prominent example, as there is significant disagreement, and neither side can be considered entirely correct.

At other times, unequal treatments may be explained by racial and gender differences without the application of discriminatory practices, particularly with regards to cultural practices.

The importance of justice is above debate, but it is not always about declaring one side correct while the other is wrong and at fault. Humanity operates best when it is unified and follows the same purpose of fairness.

Lastly, try to avoid confusing equality with equity, as the two social justice essay topics are significantly different. The former involves similar starting conditions and opportunities for all people, though they will likely achieve varying successes in life.

The latter means equality of outcomes, meaning that the unsuccessful receive support, which logically has to come at the expense of those who succeed.

You may support either position, with equality being a more traditional concept that seems logical to many people and equity being considered effective at improving the conditions of marginalized communities. However, make your position clear, as the difference is critical and informs your personal concept of social justice.

Here are some additional tips for your paper:

• Separate the points you make in your essay with social justice essay titles. These titles will help the reader navigate the paper and understand your main claims.
• Try to introduce original ideas instead of contributing to ongoing debates. An essay does not allow enough space to let you add something that will change the situation to such discussions.
• The topic of social justice is inherently political, as most suggestions will involve policy-level changes. However, you should try to distance yourself from politics and work with factual information.

Visit IvyPanda to find more social justice essay examples and other useful paper samples to boost your creative process!

• Unemployment.
• Global Warming.
• School Shooting.
• Income Inequality.
• Global Pandemic.
• Social Security.
• Racial & LGBTQ Discrimination.
• Mental Health Stigma.
• Famine and Starvation.
• Discrimination in Voting.
• Social Justice in Education With a clear distinction between justice taught in class and justice allowed to thrive in the school environments, teachers can be able to observe how their students perceive and response to social injustices in the […]
• Jay-Z’s Contribution to Hip-Hop and Fight for Social Justice One should admit that the crime rate among black people in some poor areas is really quite high, and that is another problem Jay-Z covers in his music.
• Advocating for Social Justice in Healthcare However, health care is also often related to the idea of social justice a term that describes the allocation of resources and benefits to people according to their needs and abilities.
• Social Justice Arts as a Remedy for People The work led to the formation of the movement called Black Lives Matter which calls for an end to oppressing black people through law enforcement.
• Freedom and Social Justice Through Technology These two remarkable minds have made significant contributions to the debates on technology and how it relates to liberty and social justice.
• Factors of Strategic Management of Social Justice Starting to talk about economic and technological changes that affect the sector of social justice, it is possible to observe tendencies of the level of development of the country from social policy.
• Social Justice from a Philosophical Perspective Although their theories of justice were significant, they would not have existed without Plato’s influence and the contribution that their ideas of justice have made to political philosophy.
• Social Justice in the Modern World The main link in social relations is a measure of social justice, a derivative of the equality of people’s opportunities to realize their potential.
• Social Justice Quotes from “The Wife’s Lament” by Beck “never worse than now ever I suffer the torment of my exile”.”that man’s kinsmen began to think in secret that they would separate us” “so we would live far apart in the world” “My lord […]
• Social Justice in Counseling Psychology The other barrier which is likely to arise in the process of integrating social justice in the workplace is legal and ethical issues.
• Social Justice and Vulnerability Theories When the country’s economic analyzers assess the status of the economy, the older people are regarded as the first group of the population that is pulling the economy backward because they are entirely dependent.
• Social Justice in Social Work Practice The moral approach of social work is fundamentally based on the idea of social justice. Despite the numerous risks associated with advocating for social justice, criticizing injustice is one of the few courageous ways to […]
• Researching the Concept of Social Justice A special kind of justice is social justice, the subjects of which are large social groups, society as a whole, and humanity.
• Promoting Social Justice Through Serving God Therefore, serving God in action correlates with the promotion of social justice and reflects the importance of Christian teachings about kindness towards others.
• Social Justice and Importing Foreign Nurses Evaluation Given the lag between the submission of the article and its publication, it means that these sources most likely reflect the situation with the recruitment of foreign-educated nurses by the end of the 2000s.
• Promoting Social Justice With Head Start Program This essay will discuss the role of the Head Start program in the promotion of social justice in the US, focusing on the values taught to the children and the activities that constitute the program.
• Social Justice and Mental Health However, it is difficult to imagine the U.S.taking nationwide action on mental health due to the absence of healthcare for physical health, which is widely accepted as a serious issue.
• Religion, Politics, and Social Justice Organized religions want to change and implement rebranding to fit the new trend, concentrating on social justice in general rather than the individual spiritual aspirations of a person or a family.
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• Social Justice, Diversity and Workplace Discrimination It also includes the fair distribution of the national wealth and resources among all citizens and the unbiased treatment of all individuals.
• Social Justice: Why Do Violations Happen? If there is social inequality in a society, it must be corrected to serve the interests of the most oppressed groups of the population.
• Social Justice From the Biblical Point of View Furthermore, all oppressed and poor people are considered to be “righteous” in the Bible because it “is a reflection of God’s faithful love in action and his desire for justice and righteousness in this world”.
• Definition of Social Justice and Social Justice in Leadership They should evaluate the situation, identify areas that need improvement and develop a plan to support the achievement of social justice.
• Social Justice Leadership and Supervision While the concepts of leadership and supervision tend to be referenced within the clinical contend and primarily apply to the responsibilities of the professionals in mental institutions, the issues articulated in the article and chapters […]
• Uganda’s Economic Planning and Social Justice On the eastern, it borders Kenya, North is Southern Sudan, to the west is DRC and to the southwest is Rwanda, while to the South is Tanzania.
• Rise of Mental Social Justice It relates to the social justice leadership in clinical and supervisory practice in mental health settings by challenging the modern tenets of managerialism and neoliberalism.
• Social Justice in the US Healthcare System Social justice is a relatively broad concept, the interpretation of which often depends on the political and economic views of an individual.
• Conceptualizing Supervision in Search of Social Justice Based on these findings, it could be concluded that Social justice leadership is meant to become the remedy and the ideological, political, and medical opponent of the dominant positivist biomedical paradigm.
• Researching HIV, AIDS and Social Justice Disney claims that poverty and social injustice lead to the spread of HIV/AIDS among underprivileged people in all countries. The disease was a kind of stigma and infected people were subjected to discrimination and alienation.
• Equal Pay Convention Ratified by New Zealand and Ensuring Social Justice This paper seeks to identify whether the ratification of the International Labour Organisation equal pay for an equal value of work Convention by New Zealand delivered social justice to the women in the New Zealand […]
• Influence of Socioeconomic Status and Social Justice on Health in the US In the video, Richard David and James Collins have determined that racism, inappropriate social policies, and chronic stress are major social factors that lead to the delivery of low-weight babies among African American women.
• Social Justice Perspective Thus public health deals not only with the guarantee of a long healthy life but also regulate and control the death rate, try to expand the life interval, and other things that the policy of […]
• Deaf Youth: Social Justice Through Media and Activism The Deaf Youth USA for instance strives to educate, inspire, and empower the deaf youth to make difference in the communities.
• Social Justice and Feminism in America So as to make a change in this situation, the feminists in America took efforts to improve the condition of women.
• Equality of Opportunity and Social Justice: Affirmative Action If this is the situation in advanced nations of the world, the plight in the newly emerging states in Africa, Asia, and Latin America can easily be imagined as to how difficult would it be […]
• Christianity Religion and Asian World: Social Justice It was also said that the greatest botched opportunity in all church history was in the 1260s the court of the great Kublai Khan asked the Polos when they returned to Italy in 1269 to […]
• Social Justice for Indigenous Women in Canada However, the problem of social justice or, to be more accurate, the lack thereof becomes especially poignant when considering criminal issues and their management, as well as the factors that contribute to reducing the rates […]
• Social Justice in Quality Health Care The provision of accessible health services is necessary to minimize the health risks of the low-income households and improve their quality of life.
• What Is Social Justice? To my mind, the two most important principles of justice that should be used to govern within a just society are the selection of highly virtuous state leaders and government representatives to put in charge […]
• Social Justice: Philosophy of Employment The philosophy of empowerment supports dignity and self-worth; as such, value to all people, regardless of their status or race is an important rule of empowerment.
• American Women’s Movements for Social Justice Like Alice Walker, Deborah Gray, and Collins, Tyra Banks continues the legacy of black women since she is ready to campaign against racism, sexism, and discrimination.
• Social Justice Group Work for Homeless Young Mothers The group discussed in the article was started for the purpose of assisting residents address the problem of homelessness especially in aspects of parenting and during pregnancy periods.
• Readings for Diversity and Social Justice: An Anthology In that way, the authors noted that racial and ethnic differences tend to produce impact on lives of communities in the entirety of their aspects, and thus can aggravate other social justice issues.
• Health Care Services: Social Justice Analysis For instance, the level of poverty in the USA is on the rise, and many people simply have no funds to purchase their health insurance. In conclusion, it is possible to note that social justice […]
• Black Lives Matter and Social Justice Social media is a new public platform that has proved to be extremely effective in fighting against the normalization of violence against African-Americans.
• Ethics and Social Justice in Education Policies The real-life problem that contributes to those controversies is the multicultural genuineness of the community that was exposed to the federal and state standard reforms that transpired throughout the last ten years.
• Administrative Constitutionalism and Social Justice The current point of view at the crimes and violence is predestined by the commercial pressure applied to the mass media sources. In the majority of the cases, popular media becomes the viral source of […]
• Counselors as Social Justice Advocates The compelling vision of social justice is to achieve “free, full, and equal participation” of all groups in society to realize their aspirations and mutual needs.
• U.S. Postal Service’s Ethics and Social Justice In spite of the fact that the current agency was organized in 1971, the background of the organization is related to the development of the first postal service in the country based on the U.S.
• David Miller’s Theory of Desert in Social Justice The dependence of rewards on the variety of external and conditional factors makes the public and scholars question the idea of the desert and its use for justice.
• Ethics Issues: Social Justice In other words, it is observed that an individual has a duty of ensuring that the law is followed while the government is expected to provide the basic rights and freedoms.
• Education and Social Justice The society should also reduce the gap between the poor and the rich. The current level of inequality explains why “every school should reinvent itself in order to deal with social injustice”.
• Social justice and the black – white achievement gap From a national perspective, the achievement gap between the Black and White is reported to have narrowed down in 2007 as compared to the same gap in 1990.
• Setting an Agenda for Social Justice According to Wilkinson, Brundrett is a professor of Educational Research in the Faculty of Education, Community, and Leisure and the head of the Centre for Research and Evaluation, in the Liverpool John Moores University.
• Prosperity and Social Justice The short story was also the subject of debate when it was first written because it failed to fit in any particular genre at the time.”The Yellow Wallpaper” was mostly considered a horror story when […]
• Social Justice: Wray’s Essential Aspects of Biblical Law and Justice Wray has conducted an extensive study on the subject of social justice and suggests that students taking any course on law or social justice must go back to the origins of these laws and justice, […]
• Social Justice: The Catholic’s Social Teachings on Justice The church also seeks to instill value in the prisoners’ lives through teachings and practices that accept prisoners as people who deserve to be treated with dignity.
• Social and Criminal Justice Responses to Sex Work The negative attitude of the community and the criminalization of sex works made workers of his industry vulnerable and susceptible for the physical assaults of men in the street, their customers and even policemen.
• Social Justice and the Australian Indigenous People The main idea behind the formation of the social justice commission was to give the indigenous Australian people choice by empowering them to stand up for their rights.
• Is Social Justice the Same Thing as Political Egalitarianism? An Analysis from a Theory of Justice Perspective This is the question that is likely to arise when one is analyzing social justice in the context of political developments in the society.
• Social Justice and Gay Rights This perception of gays was radically reformed thanks to the efforts of gay rights movements which trace their roots to the 1960s and the Stonewall Riots of 1969 which marked the birth of the gay […]
• The People Demand Social Justice: The Social Protest in Israel as an Agoral Gathering
• The Woman Who Spoke of Love and Social Justice
• Peace and Eco-Social Justice: Failed Distributive Justice, Violence and Militancy in India
• Spirituality, Women ‘s Issues, Sustainability, and Social Justice
• Multicultural Counseling Social Justice and Advocacy Reaction
• The Paradox of Dominate Ideologies in The Fight of Social Justice
• Letter from Birmingham Jail’ by Martin Luther King Jr. and Social Justice
• Richard Spencer and the Issues of Social Justice and White Nationalism
• The Moving Beyond Pity and Inspiration: Disability as a social Justice Issue by Eli Clare
• The Importance of Human Rights and Social Justice
• Social Justice: The Role of Higher Education, Criminality and Race
• Turning Points in the Lives of Chinese and Indian Women Leaders Working Toward Social Justice
• Paulo Freire’s Social Justice Idea
• Producing and Practicing Social Justice in Education
• Urban Social Justice: The Gentrification Debate
• The Role of Education in Society as Explained in Conell’s Social Justice in Education
• The Issues of the Canadian Social Services and Social Justice Domain
• Wellbeing, Freedom, and Social Justice: The Capability Approach
• The Principle of Social Justice and Advocacy Support
• The Biblical Prophets’ Teachings on the Love of God in Social Justice
• The Relationship Between Free Market and Social Justice
• Uneasy Bedfellows: Social Justice and Neo-Liberal Practice in the Housing Market
• The Ethics of Pricing and Access to Health Care: A Social Justice Issue
• Measuring Attitudes Toward Distributive Justice: The Basic Social Justice Orientations Scale
• The Importance of the Covenant House as a Symbol of Christian Social Justice
• Social Justice Orientation and Multicultural Environment
• The New Political Economy of J. S. Mill: The Means to Social Justice
• The ‘s Coat of Arms Are Trust, Empathy, and Social Justice
• The Vietnam War and Its Impact on The Creation of Social Justice
• Race Relations and Social Justice Problems
• Poverty, Inequality and Social Justice in Nonmetropolitan America
• Rape Culture, Rapth, and the Cycles of Social Justice
• The Three Social Justice Issues That Fires Me Up as a Citizen in the United States
• Reading Baldwin After Harvey: Why Climate Change Is a Social Justice Issue
• The Importance of Social Justice Is Universal Across
• Effective Practice During The Social Justice System
• The Issue of Social Justice Activism in Various Social Media Networks
• Sustainable Development and Social Justice: Expanding the Rawlsian Framework of Global Justice
• Once Upon Today: Teaching for Social Justice with Postmodern Picturebook
• The Congressional Black Caucus Use of Social Media for Social Justice Issues
• The Effective Teaching Techniques of Lisa Espinosa in Providing Information on the Topic of Cultural Relevance and Social Justice
• Reading Baldwin After Harvey: Why Climate Change Is a Social Justice Issue?
• How Does Social Justice Highlight the Relationship Between Social Welfare and Crime Control?
• Social Justice and Academic Success: Is Individual Effort Enough?
• Rawls’s Theory of Social Justice: How Decisions Are Made?
• Are Consultation and Social Justice Advocacy Similar Exploring the Perceptions?
• How Arc Advances Social Justice?
• What Are the Different Factors Affect Social Justice?
• What Does the Information Society Mean for Social Justice and Civil Society?
• What Is the Connection Between Curricular Practices, Social Justice and Democratic Purpose in the United States Education System?
• How the United States Has Both Market and Social Justice?
• What Is the Impact of Social Justice on The United States?
• What Is the Impact of Social Justice on Human Development?
• How Does Social Justice Actions Project?
• When High Pressure, System Constraints, and a Social Justice Mission Collide?
• What Is the Concept of Social Justice Social Work?
• What Is the Connection Between Free Market and Social Justice?
• What Is the Goal of Social Justice Education?
• What Social Justice Issues Are You Most Passionate About?
• What Is Consist Social Justice Western Perspectives?
• How Social Justice Course Changed My Outlook?
• What Are the Three Social Justice Issues That Fires Up as a Citizen in the United States?
• What Has Limited the Impact of UK Disability Equality Law on Social Justice?
• What Is Rawls’ Expanding Framework for Global Justice?
• How Does the Film “Lord of Flies” Relate to Social Justice?
• Does the Legal System Promote Social Justice?
• Are the People Demand Social Justice?
• Social Justice and the University Community: Does Campus?
• What Does “Social Justice” Mean?
• What Does Teaching for Social Justice Mean for Teachers?
• Why Is Education a Social Justice and Right for Each Child?
• Children’s Rights Research Ideas
• Women’s Rights Titles
• Socioeconomic Status Paper Topics
• Human Rights Essay Ideas
• Sociological Perspectives Titles
• Idealism Paper Topics
• Respect Essay Topics
• Libertarianism Research Topics
• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

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The LREI Eighth Grade Social Justice Project

Social justice presentation, by romy kregsman.

Name: Romy Kregsman

Social Justice Group: 2021-2022 , Homelessness—Communities of Color and Children

Date of Fieldwork: January 20, 2022

Name of Organization and person (people) with whom you met and their title(s): Social Justice Group Members

Type of Fieldwork: Other

What I did and what I learned about my topic, activism, social justice work or civil and human rights work from this fieldwork?[:: :

Last week my group presented an overview presentation on our SJ topic. I wasn’t as nervous because I felt very strongly about our presentation. This was our first time talking out loud and informing everyone about the issue of homelessness. I think that everyone worked very well together and everyone in my group contributed. Here is something i shared about my topic after reading the articles, “After reading these articles all I want to do is help. We all walk by it everyday when we are going to school or just casually walking around. New York City is one of the most expensive place to live. When I see family’s, kids, begging on the street for money leaves a hole in my heart. This is an issue that needs to be worked on”.

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Interview with Donna Dees

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Social Justice Learning Objectives

The Social Justice Learning Objectives in the table below were proposed by the PhD Social Justice Committee and adopted by the PhD Program Committee in May 2010. Students and Faculty implement these learning objectives in all programmatic aspects of the PhD Program: both curricular and extracurricular activities. This tool has many potential uses, including:

• Increasing accountability among faculty and students to ensure social justice is brought to the forefront.
• Offering some common language and consensus around programmatic objectives for the training of scholars promoting social justice.
• Providing guidance to individual faculty and students when forming objectives for teaching and/or learning.
• Providing support to faculty/students engaged in social justice work by acknowledging its value and centrality to scholarship, teaching, and service.
• Providing opportunities for reflection and/or feedback to individual students on their path toward socially just scholarship.
• Gathering feedback about how well the program is achieving its mission and/or monitoring progress toward it.
• Guiding a deeper implementation of our mission through thoughtful incorporation of these objectives into training opportunities and educational milestones (admissions application, comprehensive exams, advising checklist, individualized learning plans, general exams, and dissertation defenses).

Broad Understanding:

Scholarship (publications, presentations, grants, professional dissemination).

• Cultivate a working knowledge of major theories of social justice (across disciplines, historical contexts, and communities) and their implications for social welfare scholarship.
• Develop capacity to assess and communicate how social welfare research, policies, and practices can both empower and oppress communities they are purported to serve.
• Develop reflective practices to understand self as a scholar given positionality in the context of power dynamics.

Teaching (Instruction, Training, Mentoring, Supervising)

• Demonstrate a commitment to integrating diverse teaching/mentoring methods.
• Understand how historical and contemporary education policies have shaped social work education in ways that oppress, liberate, and transform the classroom and the profession.
• Articulate teaching philosophy that reflects social justice values.

University, Professional & Community Service (Boards, Committees, Consultation, Practice, Advocacy, Peer Review)

• Articulate approaches to building and engaging in just partnerships.
• Reflect upon the impact of identity, power, and the privilege of the academy in service work.
• Advocate for an institutional definition of service that values work both within and outside the academy.

Substantive Area

• In chosen area of interest, understand dominant paradigms and critiques that center social justice across multiple levels of investigation, translation, and dissemination.
• Identify and articulate social justice goals and implications of individual research program and applications for the profession.
• Incorporate social justice content into instruction within teaching specialty.
• Gain and develop a working knowledge of positionality, biases, and beliefs that may influence teaching, mentoring, and/or supervising to improve capacity to work effectively across difference.
• Know systems/structures in area of interest and confront associated disparities and injustices that perpetuate oppression/marginalization.
• Build and maintain constructive relationships with communities in area of interest to bridge gap between research and practice.
• Honor community priorities and wisdom in the academy and use appropriate academy resources to catalyze community goals.
• Demonstrate and apply critical inquiry into uses/misuses of research methods and articulation of just methodology.
• Seek out, identify, and work to enhance transformative potential of chosen research tools.
• Understand social justice implications and issues present throughout each stage of the research process.
• Design learning objectives and implement instructional strategies that promote critical thinking.
• Create instructional spaces that are engaging, inclusive, responsive, liberatory, and non-oppressive.
• Solicit student feedback and strive to continuously improve instruction from a social justice perspective.
• Effectively facilitate group dynamics around issues of power and oppression in the classroom.
• Learn strategies for collegial and responsible engagement.
• Assume leadership roles with humility and thoughtfulness.
• Participate in public discourse (i.e., alternative media, popular press, local speaking).
• Approach and engage people with awareness of your own positionality and cultural lens.

Social Justice

Mar 17, 2019

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Social Justice . Institute for Leadership in Ministry 2011 February 23: FOUNDATIONS March 2: PRINCIPLES March 16: APPLICATIONS Kristin Heyer Associate Professor, Religious Studies Santa Clara University. Social Justice: FOUNDATIONS. Ecclesiology:

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Social Justice • Institute for Leadership in Ministry 2011 • February 23: FOUNDATIONS • March 2: PRINCIPLES • March 16: APPLICATIONS • Kristin Heyer • Associate Professor, Religious Studies • Santa Clara University

Social Justice: FOUNDATIONS Ecclesiology: • What is the relationship of the church to the wider world according to a Catholic understanding? Anthropology: • What vision of the person grounds the Catholic social tradition? Frameworks: Catholic understandings of justice and rights

Charity and Justice • When I feed the poor they call me a saint; when I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a Communist. -Brazilian Archbishop Dom Helder Cámara • While the words and example of Jesus on earth require individual works of mercy and acts of charity, they also require wider-scale action in pursuit of peace and justice. • We are called to be both “Moses” and “the Good Samaritan.”

What has Jerusalem to say to Athens? • Contemporary Catholic Social Thought (CST) charts course between “nothing” (sectarian withdrawal) and “everything” (cooptation, theocracy) • Delicate balance of “depoliticized engagement” • “in the world but not of the world”

How did we get here? • Impact of Second Vatican Council 1962-1965 • Significant legacy for church’s social mission • Gaudium et spes • Dignitatis humanae

Gaudium et spes • “Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World” (Joy and Hope) • The joys and the hopes, the griefs and the anxieties of the men of this age, especially those who are poor or in any way afflicted, these are the joys and hopes, the griefs and anxieties of the followers of Christ. Indeed, nothing genuinely human fails to raise an echo in their hearts. For theirs is a community composed of men. United in Christ, they are led by the Holy Spirit in their journey to the Kingdom of their Father and they have welcomed the news of salvation which is meant for every man. That is why this community realizes that it is truly linked with mankind and its history by the deepest of bonds. (no. 1)

Shift away from Sacred-Secular Split • Gaudium et spes exemplifies this shift • Shift to perceiving element of sacred within the secular/temporal and political realms • The Council can provide no more eloquent proof of its solidarity with the entire human family with which it is bound up, as well as its respect and love for that family, than by engaging with it in conversation about these various problems. (no. 3)

Church-World Stance Shifts • Shift from church’s previous defensive, reactionary to open stance toward the world that takes serious the struggles of the marginalized and addresses structural change • “social question” becomes universalized

Church’s Social Mission • GS presents the human person as the bond between the church and the world, and the task of the church as safeguarding the dignity of the person (no. 76). • church’s social teaching was bolstered with “ecclesiological grounding” - its social teaching no longer a narrow category within moral theology, but rather a means of fulfilling the church’s very mission.

“Citizens of Two Cities” • Disciples and citizens: “in the world but not of the world” • Between cooptation and withdrawal • Rejects partisanship and “otherworldliess” • delicate balance: church is called to political engagement to protect the human dignity without conflating the Catholic faith with particular or partisan political systems

Depoliticized Engagement • indirect role for the church’s engagement in the political order • the alternatives are equally unacceptable: apoliticized church erodes the transcendence of the gospel a church in retreat from human affairs betrays the incarnational dimension of Christian faith Method: “confident modesty,” church as teacher and learner, interpreting “signs of the times,” (1891-2009)

Dignitatis humanae (DH) • “Declaration on Religious Liberty” 1965 • landmark development in church teaching on religious liberty and in terms of the differentiation and proper relation of church and state

First Amendment (U.S. Constitution) • Church/state institutional separation and free exercise • Religious bodies receive neither favoritism nor discrimination • 1st A: protects public theology as “politics of persuasion,” not coercion • 1st A = political, therefore neutral on value of different religious doctrines

Implications of church’s affirmation of Religious Liberty • Implicitly rejected here is the outmoded notion that “religion is a purely private affair” or that “the Church belongs in the sacristy.” Religion is relevant to the life and action of society. Therefore religious freedom includes the right to point out this social relevance of religious belief. • John Courtney Murray, S.J. on Dignitatis humanae

(Post-Vatican II): Action for Justice: Central to Gospel and Church’s Mission Action on behalf of justice and participation in the transformation of the world fully appear to us as a constitutive dimension of preaching the gospel, or, in other words, of the church’s mission for the redemption of the human race and its liberation from every oppressive structure. -1971 Synod of Bishops, Justitia in mundo, no. 6

The mission of preaching the Gospel dictates at the present time that we should dedicate ourselves to the liberation of people even in their present existence in this world. For unless the Christian message of love and justice shows its effectiveness through action in the cause of justice in the world, it will only with difficulty gain credibility with the people of our times. (no. 35)

Catholic Vision of the Human Person • Genesis 1:1-31 • “in God’s image God created them, male and female God created them.” • Humans as created in imago Dei (image of God) • Inherently sacred, worthy • Inherently social Created in image of Trinitarian God - to be a person is to be in relationship

Human Dignity  Human Rights Human rights give shape & substance to the idea of human dignity Human dignity grounds human rights : reciprocal relationship Human rights provide societal framework

Range of Rights in CST civil and political rights (political-legal) social and economic rights (socio-economic) “These fundamental personal rights—civil and political as well as social and economic—state the minimum conditions for social institutions that respect human dignity, social solidarity, and justice.” - “Economic Justice for All,” (no. 80)

United Nations Declaration on Human Rights http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/ Examples: article 12, 25, 23, 18

Justice in Western Context (U.S.) Images and understandings of western justice

Biblical Justice • Creative • Liberating, vindicating • Relational • Care for Anawim • shalom

Justice in Catholic Social Teaching • contributive/legal; commutative; distributive; social • “Basic justice demands the establishment of minimal levels of participation in the life of the human community for all persons. The ultimate injustice is for a person or group to be treated actively or abandoned passively as if they were nonmembers of the human race. To treat people this way is effectively to say that they simply do not count as human beings.” • (U.S. Bishops, “Economic Justice for All,”no. 77)

Catholic Social Teaching: Encyclicals • 1891Rerum novarumLeo XIII1931Quadragesimo annoPius XI1961Mater et magistra John XXIII1963Peace on EarthJohn XXIII1965Church in the Modern WorldVatican II1967The Development of PeoplesPaul VI1971A Call to ActionPaul VI1971Justice in the WorldSynod of Bishops1979Redeemer of HumanityJohn Paul II1981On Human WorkJohn Paul II1988On Social ConcernJohn Paul II1991The One Hundredth YearJohn Paul II1995The Gospel of LifeJohn Paul II • 2005 God is Love Benedict XVI • 2009 Charity in Truth Benedict XVI

Social Justice: PRINCIPLES • Recall foundation of Catholic anthropology: • Vision of person as sacred and social • Yields CST themes • Life and dignity of human person • Common good • Option for poor • Dignity of work/rights of workers • Solidarity • Care for God’s Creation

Catholic Social Teaching: key themes • Life and Dignity of the Human Person • Every human being is created in the image of God and therefore is invaluable and worthy of respect as a member of the human family

Common Good • Call to family, community and participation • Common good: those conditions necessary for the flourishing of all members of a given community • Not the same as a utilitarian “greatest good for the greatest number”

Option for the Poor and Vulnerable • Matthew 25: 31-46 • Biblical justice is measured by a society’s treatment of the most vulnerable: the widow, the orphan, the sojourner. • The prime purpose of a preferential option for poor is to enable them to become active participants in the life of society—to enable all persons to share in the common good.

Dignity of Work and Rights of Workers • Matthew 20:1-16 • The economy must serve people, and not the other way around. • If the dignity of work is to be protected, then the basic rights of workers must be respected—rights to productive work, to decent and fair wages, to organize and join unions, to private property, and to economic initiative. -U.S. Catholic Bishops

Solidarity • A firm and persevering commitment to commit ourselves to the common good on every level. • “We really all are responsible for all.” • Pope John Paul II

Greg Boyle, S.J.Founder/Director, Homeboy Industries • Create a community of kinship such that God might recognize it. • Jesus wasn’t a man for others, he was one with others. • “Our problem is that we've forgotten that we belong to each other.” • Mother Theresa

Care for God’s Creation Stewardship: the earth, created by God, has been entrusted to us for our care not just our own benefit. Humans are part and parcel of the created order, not suspended over and above it. CST affirms the “universal purpose of created goods”– God’s creation is intended for good of all humans. Solidarity in TIME not just solidarity in space.

Sin in Christian thought • Sin: fact act orientation • Sins of omission: Failure to bother to Love. • biblical examples • Walter Rauschenbusch, social gospel movement

Social Sin • Social sin: embodiment of multiple sinful choices, structures of evil that surround us and in which we take part • 1 both ways in which our personal sins become embodied in unjust social structures (our complicity in sweatshop conditions as consumers) • 2 and the ways those same structures make it harder to resist the temptation to sin (air we breathe tainted by acceptable injustices—racism, sexism, homophobia)

Engaging the Signs of Our Times Social Justice initiatives via -Catholic charities and direct aid -Catholic political advocacy (USCCB, NEWTORK Catholic Social Justice Lobby, Pax Christi USA, others) -CCHD-funded/Catholic-based community organizing -private sector: socially responsible investing and shareholder advocacy (religious orders)

CST and Signs of our Times • Small Group Discussions: • 1. death penalty/capital punishment • 2. environmental racism • 3. liturgical practice and CST: marriage • 4. scripture, justice and international trade • 5. the working poor • 6. 21st century slavery

Assignment • Note: You may select one essay question from among the following options. Responses should be 3-5 pages, double-spaced, 12-point font, 1” margins minimum. I prefer hard copies; please submit your completed assignments to ILM staff who can then send them to me as a set. Thank you for the conversation, and blessings upon your ministries and journeys. KEH

1. Pierce Hunsinger has been caught, for the third time, selling narcotics and is facing time in prison. He argues that selling drugs is his best chance at a better life for his family. With only a high school education as well as ex-felon status, he has had difficulty finding a job that keeps his wife and two children above the poverty line. He awaits his sentencing hearing. What would different responses to Pierce’s situation look like from the perspectives of western and biblical justice?  • 2. Discuss the proper role of religion in public life according to post-Vatican II Catholic social thought and Massaro’s Living Justice. What changes took place at the Second Vatican Council, and how would you characterize the balance Catholicism seeks to strike? What is your own impression of the relationship of the Church to political issues today in light of this ideal? • 3. What might it mean to reimagine a ministry in which you are currently involved (or have been involved) in light of Catholic social teaching? (baptism, confirmation, anointing of the sick, marriage preparation, reconciliation, youth ministry) Be sure to concretely identify several changes and how they reflect different principles or commitments of Catholic social thought. (E.g., describe how you might transform a youth group food drive to incorporate both charity and justice dimensions, more fully affirm human dignity, and attend to sustainability).

4. Your pastor has asked you to write a column for a special extended edition of the parish newsletter on why issues of social justice should matter to faithful Catholics. Pick one among the following topics and write your essay with parishioners as your audience: • a.) Why should Catholics be concerned about environmental issues (our energy consumption/“carbon footprint,” where our waste is stored, the environmental impact of industries, where our food comes from)? • b.) Why is the Catholic Church actively involved in immigration reform efforts? • c.) In what ways are we called to celebrate and promote life amid our broken world? To what concrete ministries of charity and justice does this commitment call our community?

Justice and Peace PrayerBy: Jane Deren • God of Justice and Peace,Mold our consciences according to justice,And shape our hearts according to peace,That we may recognize the talents that you have given usTo secure the rights of the poor, the oppressed, the sick and the marginalized.God, we are Your children.Grant us the courage and strengthTo work for justice,And in this way,Live out our call to be peacemakers.

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SOCIAL JUSTICE

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SOCIAL JUSTICE. Hiram Johnson---Governor of Calif. Worker’s compensation State insurance supported workers injured on the job. Robert La Follette ---Gov. of Wisconsin Wisconsin Idea = La Follette Plan Taxes on incomes and corporations. SOCIAL JUSTICE.

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Social Justice?

Social Justice?. Are Christians to be social? Yes! Lk.10:29- to live in companionship with others or in a community, rather than in isolation Act 2:44 And all who believed were together and had all things in common. We are the body of Christ, the family of God, Band of Brothers

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Social Justice. By Nathan . Quotes about Social Justice From the popes about Christ Paraphrased. ‘Charity will never be true charity unless it takes justice into account’. Divini Redemptoris Pope Plus X1

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Social JUSTICE

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Social Justice. From egoism to rational cooperation: How to produce a community of cooperators from a collection of self-interested agents. The Problem of Social Cooperation.

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Social Justice. Religious Freedom: Free To Worship Without Fear. FREEDOM OF RELIGION. CATECHISM.

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Toward Social Justice

Toward Social Justice. Deviance and Social Control. Deviance. Deviance  results from social inequity . A behaviour that violates standards of conduct or expectations of group or society Can be driver of social change

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Social JUSTICE. Faith Lived. What Have We Heard So Far?. What Have We Learned So Far?. “Pope Washes Feet Of Young Detainees” 12 young men and women Catholic Orthodox Muslim

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Social Justice. Speaking Your Mind. Religions Survey. What is a Survey?. to query (someone) in order to collect data for the analysis of some aspect of a group or area to view or consider comprehensively . What is a religion?. The service and worship of God or the supernatural?

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SOCIAL JUSTICE. In the Caribbean. Defining Social Justice. Social justice according to Reid(2007) results form equalization of social and economic opportunities for all classes of society, regardless of colour, race or creed. …Defining social justice.

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Social Justice. An Introduction. Think-Pair-Share. Working with a partner to answer this question: “What is social justice?” You will have a few minutes to brainstorm ideas and then we will have some volunteers share their thoughts. What is Social Justice?.

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Social Justice. Welcome Back. Justice – God’s justice not human justice, where we make sure that those around us get what they need. It is based in love, understanding that God will provide what we need if we make sure that those around us get what they need. .

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Social Justice. DIFFERENT TYPES OF JUSTICE. COMMUTATIVE: The relationship of one individual to another individual.

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Social Justice. In the poorest households in some low-income countries – up to 10% of income is spent on tobacco. Therefore there is less money to spend on food, education & health care.

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SOCIAL JUSTICE. The goals of the workshop Foster a clearer understanding of human rights Learn about human rights advocates from one another's tradition Train participants in the use of non-violent communication and interaction. The Participants.

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Social Justice. “Guidelines For Success” Your Key to Good Grades! Introduction to the Course. Session 1. Deacon Edward P. Munz - Justice 2006 Bishop Guertin High School www.schoolrack.com/deaconepm. What We Will Cover. “Guidelines For Success” Your Key to an “A”

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Social Justice. Tim Leyson First Year Advisor ATH 377 Instructor Fall 2011. Presentation modified from Hassel Morrison’s ECD 220 Spring 2009 presentation at North Carolina State University. Test your knowledge……. What is Social Justice? How does Social Justice differ from Diversity?

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Social Justice. Sandra Taylor and colleagues (Taylor et al. 1997) argue there are three main traditions: Liberal-individualism (Rawls) 2. Market-individualism (Nozick) 3. Social-democratic tradition (Marx). Social Justice as Redistribution and recognition (Fraser 1997).

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Social Justice. Senses of Justice Patterned vs. Historical Approach. Justice. The most general meaning of justice is giving to each person his or her due. Giving to each person what that person needs, what that person deserves, or a share equal to what others are about to receive

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Social Justice!

Social Justice!. Mandatory Information. Meetings will be every Wednesday @Lunch in the Lecture Hall . (If something comes up we will let you know either by email, over the PA or by other means)

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Dialogue Education Update3. Social Justice.

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