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Social Justice and Change

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Social Justice and Change
Tamanna M. Shah
Department of Sociology, University of Utah,
Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
Keywords
Justice · Social change · Equality
Definition
Justice is a norm or a standard used to establish
fairness in a society. It is also understood as an
idea that seeks to make an individual believe that
everyone is equal in the eyes of the law. Justice,
therefore, implies impartial treatment of all. Social
justice is concerned with the equality of social
order and fair distribution of opportunities,
rewards, and needs within the society. It is a
process that ensures rights are protected and real-
ized to ensure all people are treated as equals in
society. The discourse of social justice was ini-
tially centered on distribution. With time, it
became divided between claims for redistribution
and claims for recognition.
Social justice involves the actions of social
actors who have a sense of their agency as well
as a sense of social responsibility for society as a
whole. Social justice is assessed using different
parameters like equality, entitlement, and
need. Some scholars view social justice in
descriptive terms such as geography has been
© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019
S. Romaniuk et al. (eds.), The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Global Security Studies,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-74336-3_285-1
more normative. It defines social justice as a
moral evaluation of prevailing social
arrangements.
Introduction
The idea of social change is closely connected
with social justice. Changing times demand job
security, access to capital, and productive envi-
ronment for all people. Change is inevitable in
society, and hence, there is a need for social justice
to accommodate these changes. Social justice,
with the changing times, needs to be practiced in
a secure environment for it to be successful. The
absence of justice in society creates chaos. It
results in social oppression, racism, classism,
and widespread inequality. Hierarchies of oppres-
sion are formed as a result where some minority
groups or individuals are treated unfairly or
secluded more than the others. This can result in
social or legal exclusion, discrimination, inequi-
table distribution of resources, and emotional and
physical consequences.
Social philosophers like Thomas Hobbes
(1588–1679), Adam Smith (1723–1790), and
John Rawls (1921–2002) argue in favor of the
hypothesis that humans are mostly driven by
self-interest. There is also evidence that individ-
uals do have the capability to act pro-social or act
in ways that do not serve their personal interests
but instead are fair and just. Justice creates,
preserves, and maintains peaceful social contexts.
2 Social Justice and Change
It consists of two parts: retributive and distributive
justice. Retributive justice restores equality by
rectifying injustice. Distributive justice, on the
other hand, is more closely linked to the context
of social justice. Distributive justice concerns the
equal distribution of benefits and burdens among
members of society (e.g., property, income, trade).
For Plato (429-347 BCE) and Aristotle (384-322
BCE), justice is not only about laws and retribu-
tion but also about the advancement of harmoni-
ous communities and the common social good.
Marx and Engels (2004) extended Plato’s
theory and argued that humans are primed on
believing what is good or just. Justice, for Marx,
is a tool of the ruling class to hide the injustices of
the capitalist economic system built to sustain
the oppression of the working class and protect
the power of the elite. To Marx, a socially just
society necessitates common material goods, a
communist economy, and cooperative contribu-
tions according to one’s skills. John Rawls
(1971) in his book, A Theory of Justice, suggests
that major institutions (political as well as eco-
nomic and social) espouse deep inequalities given
that they privilege some members of society over
others. Rawls claims that for justice to be fair to all
members of the society, it has to ensure that basic
social goods like opportunity to work, liberty,
wealth, and income are equally distributed.
While philosophers like Plato and Rawls focused
on the local and national context of social justice,
modern theorists present more global reality. Con-
temporary thinkers offer new approaches to social
justice to reflect the current state of local, commu-
nity, and global justice. According to the promi-
nent contemporary philosopher, Thomas Nagel
(2005), discussions of global justice are at very
early contextual stages and include considerations
of world governments (suggested by Hobbes,
1588–1679) versus a global system of individu-
ally just states (suggested by Rawls).
The value of social change, on the other hand,
is affected by many concepts that achieve social
change. These include, though not limited to,
prevention and promotion (Cowen 2000; Heller
et al. 1984), ecology (e.g., Kelly 1966; Trickett
1984), wellness (e.g., Cowen 2000; Prilleltensky
2012), psychological sense of community (e.g.,
McMillan and Chavis 1986; Sarason 1974), and
empowerment (e.g., Perkins and Zimmerman
1995; Rappaport 1981, 1987; Zimmerman
2000). Social change has the individual at
the center. Individuals are the agents of social
justice in the communities. Social justice cannot
be ensured unless these cultural and social
changes are recognized. In short, redistributive
or distributive justice can only be ensured once
change is recognized and acknowledged.
Conclusion
At the crux of social justice and change are rela-
tionships at the societal level and how resources
shape social issues and conflict. In the absence of
a clear theory for social justice or clear regulations
to enforce equality of justice would mean discrep-
ancy in the execution of it. Keeping the societal
needs of the individual and the community helps
incorporate change and contribute to social
justice.
Cross-References
▶ Positive Security
▶ Security Discourse
▶ Transitional Justice
References
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Heller, K., Price, R., Reinharz, S., Riger, S., &
Wandersman, A. (1984). Psychology and community
change: Challenges of the future. Homewood: Dorsey.
Kelly, J. G. (1966). Ecological constraints on mental health
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Marx, K., & Engels, F. (2004). In L. M. Findlay (Ed.),
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McMillan, D., & Chavis, D. (1986). Sense of Community:
A Theory and Definition. American Journal of Com-
munity Psychology, 14, 6–23.
Social Justice and Change
Nagel, T. (2005). The problem of global justice. Philoso-
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Perkins, D. D., & Zimmerman, M. A. (1995). Empower-
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Prilleltensky, I. (2012). Wellness as fairness. American
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Zimmerman, B. J. (2000). Self-efficacy: An essential
motive to learn. Contemporary Educational Psychol-
ogy, 25, 82–91.
Further Reading
Campbell, T. (2001). Justice (2nd ed.). New York: St.
Martin’s Press.
Fraser, N. (1997). Justice interruptus: Critical reflections
of the ‘postsocialist’ condition. New York: Routledge.
Harvey, D. (1973). Social justice and the city. London:
Edward Arnold.
Houston, D., & Pulido, L. (2002). The work of
performativity: Staging social justice at the University
of Southern California. Environment and Planning D:
Society and Space, 20, 401–424.
Kruger, M. (2004). The concept and practice of justice in
an intentional community: The East Wind experience.
Contemporary Justice Review: Issues in Criminal,
Social and Restorative Justice, 7, 355–374.
Nussbaum, M. C. (2007). Frontiers of justice: Disability,
nationality, species membership. Cambridge, MA:
Harvard University Press.
Sen, A. (2009). The idea of justice. New Delhi: Viking.