Social Justice in practice

The department of social practice at Unitec where I work operates within a philosophy which is predicated on a central commitment to social justice - the creation of opportunity, and the empowerment of individuals, groups and communities.

Well, in so many ways my understanding of social justice is in line with the DoSP... but I think it is important to clarify what social justice means for me as a practitioner (and as a person). I make this statement in light of Karen Lebacqz claim that social justice is like the proverbial elephant examined by blindfolded explorers (Lebacqz, 1996). Michael Novak also observes that social justice ‘is often assumed to float in the air as if everyone will recognise an instance when it appear’. These statements point to the fact that there are varied understandings and definitions of social justice - across contexts and disciplines. The following video illustrates my point further...

As an individual (and in my practice) my understanding of social justice is influenced by many theorist, particularly Amartya Sen, Iris Marion Young, and Nancy Fraser. 

I am drawn to these theories (or understandings of social justice) because of their starting point - that is they are concern with removing injustices - and not simply 'ideal societies or institutions'. These theorist share an understanding of social justice - that is social justice as the ‘centring of the margins’.Social justice goes against the grain to deliberately include individuals and groups previously excluded from dominant processes and discourses. They all agree that social justice is concerned with issues of inequalities of political, social, cultural and economic wealth - and discrepancies in access to resources, and access to information. Therefore, within education (or tertiary education), social justice creates ‘justice-oriented’ citizens.