Social justice
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Social justice mostly refers to an idea of society, where "justice" refers to economic status rather than to the administration of laws. It is based on the idea of a society which gives individuals and groups fair treatment and a just share of the benefits of society. Different proponents of social justice have developed different interpretations of what constitutes fair treatment and a just share.
Social justice is both a philosophical problem and an important issue in politics. It can be argued that everyone wishes to live in a just society, but different political ideologies have different conceptions of what a 'just society' actually is. The term "social justice" itself tends to be used by those ideologies who believe that present day society is highly unjust - and these are usually left-wing ideologies, advocating a more extensive use of income redistribution, a more egalitarian society. The right-wing has its own conception of social justice, but generally believes that it is best achieved through the operation of a free market, and the promotion of philanthropy and charity. Both right and left tend to agree on the importance of rule of law, human rights, and some form of a welfare safety net (though the left supports this latter element to a greater extent than the right).
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[edit] Rawls
The political philosopher John Rawls (1921-2002) draws on the utilitarian insights of Bentham and Mill, the social contract ideas of Locke, and the categorical imperative ideas of Kant. His first statement of principle was made in A Theory of Justice (1971) where he proposed that, "Each person possesses an inviolability founded on justice that even the welfare of society as a whole cannot override. For this reason justice denies that the loss of freedom for some is made right by a greater good shared by others." (at p3). A deontological proposition that echoes Kant in framing the moral good of justice in absolutist terms. His views are definitively restated in Political Liberalism (1993), where society is seen, "as a fair system of co-operation over time, from one generation to the next." (at p14).
All societies have a basic structure of social, economic, and political institutions, both formal and informal. In testing how well these elements fit and work together, Rawls based a key test of legitimacy on the theories of social contract. To determine whether any particular system of collectively enforced social arrangements is legitimate, he argued that one must look for agreement by the people who are subject to it. Obviously, not every citizen can be asked to participate in a poll to determine his or her consent to every proposal in which some degree of coercion is involved, so we have to assume that all citizens are reasonable. Rawls constructed an argument for a two-stage process to determine a citizen's hypothetical agreement:
- the citizen agrees to be represented by X for certain purposes; to that extent, X holds these powers as a trustee for the citizen;
- X agrees that a use of enforcement in a particular social context is legitimate; the citizen, therefore, is bound by this decision because it is the function of the trustee to represent the citizen in this way.
This applies to one person representing a small group (e.g. to the organiser of a social event setting a dress code) as equally as it does to national governments which are the ultimate trustees, holding representative powers for the benefit of all citizens within their territorial boundaries, and if those governments fail to provide for the welfare of their citizens according to the principles of justice, they are not legitimate. To emphasise the general principle that justice should rise from the people and not be dictated by the law-making powers of governments, Rawls asserted that, "There is . . . a general presumption against imposing legal and other restrictions on conduct without sufficient reason. But this presumption creates no special priority for any particular liberty." (at pp291-292) This is support for an unranked set of liberties that reasonable citizens in all states should respect and uphold — to some extent, the list proposed by Rawls matches the normative human rights that have international recognition and direct enforcement in some nation states where the citizens need encouragement to act in a more objectively just way.
Social Justice as conceived by Rawls is an apolitical philosophical concept (insofar as any philosophical analysis of politics can be free from bias), but many of the ideas, sometimes renamed civil justice, have been adopted by those who lie on the left or center-left of the political spectrum (e.g. Socialists, Social Democrats, etc.) Similarly, Social Justice is fundamental to Catholic social teaching, and is one of the Four Pillars of the Green Party upheld by the worldwide green parties. As stated by several local branches, this is the principle that all persons are entitled to "basic human needs", regardless of "superficial differences such as economic disparity, class, gender, race, ethnicity, citizenship, religion, age, sexual orientation, disability, or health". This includes "the eradication of poverty and illiteracy, the establishment of sound environmental policy, and equality of opportunity for healthy personal and social development."
[edit] The basic liberties
Rawls listed:
- freedom of thought;
- liberty of conscience as it affects social relationships on the grounds of religion, philosophy, and morality;
- political liberties (e.g. representative democratic institutions, freedom of speech and the press, and freedom of assembly);
- freedom of association;
- freedoms necessary for the liberty and integrity of the person (viz: freedom from slavery, freedom of movement and a reasonable degree of freedom to choose one's occupation); and
- rights and liberties covered by the rule of law.
[edit] Beliefs
Some people concerned with social justice may hold some or all of the following beliefs:
- Historical inequities insofar as they affect current injustices should be corrected until the actual inequities no longer exist or have been perceptively "negated".
- The redistribution of wealth, power and status for the individual, community and societal good.
- It is government's (or those who hold significant power) responsibility to ensure a basic quality of life for all its citizens.
- A Direct Social Justice Action must be initiated by the individual to be "pure" or remain "virtuous" within its perceived "Social Justice" context, even though other individuals may consciously choose to participate in response (intellectually, emotionally or otherwise) to the initiator's Direct Social Justice Action.
- Vigorous and uncompromising critics of any form or application of "Social Justice" whatsoever, usually have deeper motives for their convictions. For instance, furthering causes like the theories purported in eugenics. Eugenicists commonly agree that social programs assist the least fit to reproduce, often labeled as dysgenics, and hence should be vehemently opposed, dismantled, or at the very least contained.
[edit] Development of Catholic social teaching
The term "social justice" was coined by the Jesuit Luigi Taparelli in the 1840s, based on the teachings of Thomas Aquinas. He wrote extensively in his journal Civiltà Cattolica, engaging both capitalist and socialist theories from a Catholic natural law viewpoint. His basic premise was that the rival economic theories, based on subjective Cartesian thinking, undermined the unity of society present in Thomistic metaphysics; neither the liberal capitalists nor the communists concerned themselves with public moral philosophy. Pope Leo XIII, who studied under Taparelli, published in 1891 the encyclical, Rerum Novarum (On the Condition of the Working Classes), rejecting both socialism and capitalism, while defending labor unions and private property. He stated that society should be based on cooperation and not class conflict and competition. The encyclical Quadragesimo Anno (On the Restoration of Social Order) of 1931 by Pope Pius XI, encourages a living wage, subsidiarity, and teaches that social justice is a personal virtue: society can be just only if individuals are just.
Pope Benedict XVI's encyclical Deus Caritas Est (God is Love) of 2006 teaches that social justice is the central concern of politics, and not of the church, which has charity as its central social concern. The laity has the specific responsibility of pursuing social justice in civil society. The church's active role in social justice should be to inform the debate, using reason and natural law, and also by providing moral and spiritual formation for those involved in politics.
The official Catholic doctrine on social justice can be found in the book Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, published in 2004 and updated in 2006, by the Pontifical Council Iustitia et Pax.
See Catholic Social Teachings for more information.
[edit] Criticism
There are many different conceptions of social justice, and their supporters often engage in debates regarding the true form of a just society.[citation needed] However, there are also a number of critics of social justice - that is, people who believe that there is no such thing as a just society.[citation needed]
Criticism of the idea that there is an objective standard of social justice has come from several circles. First, there are moral relativists (such as the Sophists), who do not believe that there is any kind of objective standard for justice in general. Second, there are cynics (such as Niccolò Machiavelli) who believe that any ideal of social justice is ultimately a mere justification for the status quo. Third, there are libertarians who believe that social justice violates the non-aggression principle. Finally, postmodernism has also developed its own critique of the concept of social justice.
Many other people accept some of the basic results of social justice, such as the idea that all human beings have a basic level of value. These critics disagree with the elaborate conclusions that may or may not follow from this - such as the statement by H.G. Wells above that all people are "equally entitled to the respect of their fellow-men."
Finally, social justice may be unfeasible economically. Many water-poor countries have recognized a "basic right to have drinking water" and then provided that access accordingly. This often resulted in water sources being over used and then decimated.[1]
[edit] Other uses
Social Justice was also the name of a periodical published by Father Coughlin in the 1930s and early 1940s[citation needed]. Coughlin's organization was known as the National Union for Social Justice and he frequently used the term social justice in his radio broadcasts. In 1935 Coughlin made a series of broadcasts in which he outlined what he termed "the Christian principles of social justice" as an alternative to both capitalism and communism. Coughlin's views, which centered around monetary reform, have had no notable influence on those using the phrase "social justice" today, many of whom consider Coughlin's views to have been anti-Semitic.
[edit] See also
- Altruism
- Black theology
- Centre for Social Justice
- Counselors for Social Justice
- Equity
- Favoritism
- Global Greens Charter
- Global justice
- Grassroots
- Liberation theology
- Parity
- Progressivism
- Property redistribution
- Rule of law
- Social action
- Social engineering
- Social injustice
- Teaching for social justice
- Virtue
[edit] External links
- Anti-Capitalism and the Terrain of Social Justice by Sam Gindin
- Defining Social Justice by Michael Novak
- Centre for Social Justice (UK)
- The Global Green Charter
- Human Nature: Justice versus Power Noam Chomsky debates with Michel Foucault
- Social Justice in Context (pdf)
- Social Justice Wiki
- Social Justice Review
- Social Justice: Voices from the South
- Social Justice' Isn't Any Kind of Justice', Professor Antony Flew, London, Libertarian Alliance, 1993. A brief critique of the concept from a libertarian/free-market perspective
- A Dangerous Obsession by Thomas Sowell
- Institute for public policy research - Commission on Social Justice
- The Struggle to Subdue Luck, by Anthony de Jasay, Foundation for Economic Freedom, Jan. 8th, 2007
[edit] References
- ^ See UNHD 2006 Report on Water Scarcity and Justice, available at http://hdr.undp.org/hdr2006/pdfs/report/HDR06-complete.pdf
[edit] Sources
- Quigley, Carroll. (1961). The Evolution Of Civilizations: An Introduction to Historical Analysis. Second edition 1979. Indianapolis, IN: Liberty Fund. ISBN 0-913966-56-8
- Rawls, John. (1971). A Theory of Justice, Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. ISBN 0-674-88010-2
- Rawls, John. (1993). Political Liberalism. New York: Columbia University Press (The John Dewey Essays in Philosophy, 4). ISBN 0-231-05248-0
- For an analysis of justice for non-ruling communities, see: Gad Barzilai, Communities and Law: Politics and Cultures of Legal Identities. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
