Social Justice Flashcards
Concepts of Social Justice
What is Social Justice:
Social justice is the idea of enabling human beings to access their inalienable natural rights and legal rights afforded them by legislation, international treaties, court orders, law of equity, common law or customs. Social justice differs from legal justice in that the latter follows a list of rules or laws of a country to mete out punishment or compensate the injured, while the former is about concepts of equality and fairness, which legal justice plays a part in protecting.
The concept of social justice began during the 18th-century Enlightenment, but was formally recognised on a global scale in the middle of the 20th century when concern for protecting the vulnerable became a major driver towards the UN Declaration of Human Rights, which stated that all people should be treated equally regardless of race, class, nationality, gender, sexual orientation or age.
Social Justice in the Caribbean
“We want justice!” is often the cry among people when they feel that their rights are being neglected or the benefits that they are due are allotted elsewhere or simply denied to them. This was the cry among the protestors of the Morant Bay Rebellion of 1865, who sought help from British government to alley the effects of the devastation 1860s drought, and among Barbadian citizens during the May 2016 protest against Freundel Stuart’s DLP handling of the country’s affairs. The need for social justice also becomes evident when the rule of law is neglected and some people love above the law while others become victims of it. In the Caribbean, it has been known for politicians to escape imprisonment for criminal activities, while the poor are pursued and imprisoned for alleged crimes such as using obscene language, being in possession of small quantities of medicinal marijuana or resisting arrest.
The role of Social Justice
The main role of social justice is to:
-make sure that people’s unalienable human rights are not denied, neglected or legally overlooked by governments, industrialists, armed forces and others in pursuit of power, wealth or any other personal or national ambitions.
-ensure that all groups, regardless pf race, class, nationality, religion, gender, sexual orientation or political views, are viewed and treated equally under the laws that govern their territory.
-enable equal access to all resources and oppurtunities to which a citizen of a country is legally entitled.
Natural/Human Rights
Natural rights, sometimes termed as human rights, need to be upheld if social justice is to function, and are supported by the highest forms of law in most countries. These rights are enforced and even entrenched in modern constitutions to ensure that no group can claim dominance over another through the use of force or institutionalised discrimination leading to the lowering of the social or economic status of the disadvantaged group, or even its disappearance. In the British Commonwealth Caribbean, for example, the various constitutions of British former colonies include a section that outlines the natural rights of its citizens called the Bill of Rights. Many countries are signatories to international treaties on human rights that mean their citizens automatically have access to their human rights without it needing to be specifically recorded in law. However, the practical implementation of these principles is very much dependent on individual government action.
The Functions of Natural Rights
The main functions of natural rights are to:
-protect human beings from enslavement and forced labour systems.
-protect the legal rights of citizens by ensuring that they have equal access to the judiciary system and a fair public hearing in the event that they are accused of crimes.
-protect the economic and social right of all citizens and promote equal access to education, employment opportunities, amenities and the right to own property.
Welfare and how it works
Welfare systems are a means of promoting social justice through distribution of resources according to need. Traditionally, welfare systems have been established to aid those citizens who fall below the poverty line, those with special needs, the unemployed, citizens with serious medical issues and orphaned and neglected children.
How Welfare Works:
Welfare systems are usually state funded and operated. The financing if these programmes is usually generated from a pool of funds from contributors who are taxpayers.
Contributions to welfare programmes are usually not voluntary, and many Caribbean governments deduct contributions from the salaries of taxpayers before they receive their net pay. These types of deductions are called PAYE (Pay As You Earn) contributions. In the territory of Jamaica, for example, these include:
-Education Tax (used to finance public schools).
-National Insurance Scheme (NIS) contributions.
The Impact of Welfare on Development
Welfare programmes operate on the understanding that the more wealth is equally distributed among the citizens of a country, the better the chances of the disadvantaged to make a meaningful contribution to the development of the state. For example, when the state promotes training and education among disadvantaged youth, their chances of being employed will increase, likewise those with special needs can also be educated to help themselves and society in whatever capacity they are able
Arguments that welfare programmes support development include:
-Access to education up to tertiary level not only trains and prepares future taxpayers and professionals for the world or work, but also creates grateful and responsible citizens who will in turn contribute to helping other disadvantaged members of society, easing the government of that responsibility.
-Creating systems that enable people to gain employment also helps to create a more stable Caribbean society. Those employed are better able to take care of their families without state funds being needed to provide for them.
Mutual Advantage and how it Works
Mutual Advantage:
The idea behind mutual advantage is that citizens requiring help from a welfare programme need to reciprocate in the form of an informal contract in which they undertake to use the advantages of welfare to lift themselves out of poverty and thus eventually make a contribution to society or the economy.
How does Mutual Advantage Work?
Supporters of mutual advantage see it as a means of protecting the resources of the state from those who:
-seek to benefit from state resources without having to make a contribution.
-exaggerate their disabilities, illnesses and misfortunes as a strategy to live off the state.
The Impact of Mutual Advantage on Development
The stringent systems of monitoring, training, educating and keeping account of beneficiaries of welfare programmes have led to the rehabilitation and introduction of many productive members of society. Many argue that mutual advantage is a more fair and productive extension of welfare as it is based on merit and a commitment by the recipient to produce a positive result.
Welfare vs Mutual Advantage
The protection and promotion of natural rights, a welfare sytem to meet the needs of underprivileged citizens in order to promote equality, and the implementation of the concept of mutual advantage to promote equality, and the implementation of the concept of mutual advantage to promote a mutually beneficial relationship between state and recipients based on merit and reciprocation are all reflections of social justice in practice. However, some view mutual advantage as counter to social justice as the ‘agreement’ involved is inequal, being imposed on one side by the other. There is much debate about the different concepts of fairness embodied in the ideas of unconditional welfare, seen as the most effective, means to achieve equality, and mutual advantage, seen as a way to help promote the responsible use of state funding while heightening the effectiveness of welfare programmes.
Discrimination
Discrimination id often, but not always, the result of prejudice. Prejudices may arise out of a person’s limited understanding of a culture, race or organisation; prejudice stereotypes emerge when this limited understanding leads to a negative generalisation of racial or social groups. An example of prejudice is where immigrants are blamed for a country’s economic woes because they make demands on state resources and welfare benefits. In the Caribbean, the most common forms of discrimination are on the grounds of age, gender, race, and class There is also an intense discrimination against alternative sexual lifestyles, seen as a threat to traditional conservative Christian values, that has gained the attention of international organisations and media. Discrimination in all these forms represents a breach of social justice.
Ageism
This type of discrimination has become more intense in this technological age when many believe that it is difficult and even impossible for some elderly people to adapt to emerging technologies that have become important features of the modern workplace and lifestyle.
Ageism in Practice
Ageism is a firmly institutionalised form of discrimination that is often overlooked in many areas of work and society.
Ageism in employment is common:
- in redundancies, it is widely accepted that the older members of the workforce are laid off or put on early retirement before other staff members.
-the wording of job advertisements often only associates youth with value and potential, for example by stating a company is seeking “young energetic and dynamic individuals for the post of…”.
Ageism can also appear in other contexts, such as aspects of social or cultural life or government policy:
-Older people are often excluded from social activities because of the notion that they will not be able to appreciate current music, games and dress.
Gender Discrimination
Gender discrimination in the Caribbean has its origins firmly grounded in the culture of the region where gender prejudices are entrenched. For example, the idea that all Caribbean men will abandon their families at some point, leaving a broken home led by a single mother, comes from the assumption that plantation owners not allowing marriages and families has somehow implanted a negative view of family life among Caribbean men. This is, however, a sexist assumption as there are many other factors that could lead to the breakup of families. The prevalence of Christianity, Islam and Hinduism in the Caribbean, all of which involve a tradition that females should submit to males, is also a contributing factor to sexist ideas.
Gender Discrimination in Practice
Most sexist and gender-biased remarks tend to be directed at women. This is because Caribbean men have historically viewed women as the weaker sex in the European, East Indian and West African traditions of men being the head of their households and the women the homemakers. Other sexist notion directed at women are:
-Men are scientifically proven to be stronger- this is evident where women are rejected as potential employees in industries where the work is physically demanding. Historically, recruiters of Asian immigrant labourers mostly men, believing that women would not adjust well to plantation labour.
-Men are better at industrial and engineering jobs- many factories and engineering companies still prefer to employ men because employers believe that they are better able to handle the equipment.
Racism and Class Discrimination
Ethnicity and class are closely linked in the Caribbean. The influence the plantation system has had on the economic development of the Caribbean’s racial groups cannot be understated. Today, those of European descent still control most of the economic infrastructure and natural resources such as land. Likewise, the Chinese and Indians, who could afford to open businesses in plantation society, play a significant role in commerce. The blacks, whose ancestors were enslaved unpaid labourers, artisans and poor peasant farmers, also continue to carry that legacy in today’s society. So, a class pyramid representing the various races during the plantation period and one showing modern Caribbean society would look quite similar.
