What do you think the world would look like if our favorite food was not at our fingertips? There is no supermarket, no stores, no farms… we would have to put in a lot of work, just to eat every day. Food is used essentially for the nourishment of our bodies for nutritional value. However, during the nineteenth century, the British Empire had a hidden meaning between food and power, in other words, the food was not at their fingertips. For instance, in the nineteenth century, the tea trade and tea production played a very important and fundamental role in British rule (McMichael pg. 21). Tea was an essential commodity of trade during the nineteenth century. It was Britain’s favorite food, but they needed to get it from India or China. Britain had developed a hot beverage taste and was much in need of tea and coffee. Britain had developed tastes and preferences towards tea, and they had to use all the available tactics and their power to get the commodity.
The British government encouraged tea drinking because of the government’s revenue to obtain and gain from the tea taxes. The Britain government used its power and levied taxes on its subjects to get money for tea importation. Between 1720 and 1750, the Britain government imported tea from East India companies to isles within their territories. To import tea, coffee, and other commodities, the British government imposed high taxes on the citizens, which in turn they used for the tea importation (McMichael pg. 22). Also, the British government established tea factories within their territory and enslaved people to work in the factories. This brought a lot of discussion and definition about the relationship between food and power. In that case, therefore, the British government is known to have used its power to get food, that is, tea from East India. The British government encouraged tea drinking because of the revenue the government used to obtain and gain from the tea taxes.
European countries had great sugar plantations, which were covered by sugar cane fields. This was one of the major parts of the economy in the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries. Most of the Caribbean islands were covered by sugar cane fields, and mills were also established for refining the sugar cane crop. Slaves provided the most common labor until when chattel slavery was abolished (Inikori pg. 143). During the transatlantic slave trade, the Americans were sold to white people and forced to go and work in the sugar cane farms and plantations. During the mid-nineteenth century, there was human trade across the Atlantic Ocean where the white people used to buy Africans across the Atlantic Ocean and take them to the sugarcane plantations to provide manual labor. The trade of slaves across the Atlantic Ocean was one of the largest long-distance trade movements of the people in history.
This slave trade helped the sugar production in the European countries since the slaves who were captured in the trade used to be taken to provide labor in the sugar plantations. The connection between the trans-Atlantic trade of slaves and sugar production was that the African slaves who were sold during the trans-Atlantic slave trade were taken to the sugar cane plantations on the island of the Caribbean to provide manual labor (Inikori pg. 147). Europeans enjoyed their sugar which forced them to engage in the inhuman slave trade across the Atlantic Ocean. The conditions for enslaved people on sugar plantations in the islands of the Caribbean were especially brutal. The Europeans were driven by the profits they made from the sugar plantations, and the owners of the farms saw enslaved labor as a less expensive way for sugar production.
From the great labor provided by the enslaved Africans, the sugar processing industries in Europe and the United States developed. This led to the Industrial Revolution. The Industrial Revolution was a transition to the new manufacturing processes in Europe and the United States. The growth of sugar production led to innovation and growth of the technology of sugar processing and manufacturing (Inikori pg. 154). The Industrial Revolution emerged in Great Britain, and many of the technologies originated from Britain. Therefore, the sugar plantations, the trans-Atlantic slave trade, and the industrial revolutions had close connections for all the activities that depended on each other. The slaves obtained during the trans-Atlantic trade were taken to the sugar cane plantation for the provision of manual labor. This contributed to the growth of the sugar plantations and hence the industrial revolutions.
Define Social Justice
Social justice believes that every individual in society deserves equal chances for political, social, and economic opportunities and rights. It refers to a political and philosophical theory that focuses on the concepts of fairness in relations between individual citizens in society and equal access to wealth, opportunities, and social privileges in a society (Novak, pg. 11). However, practicing social justice has been an issue in many countries. Although social workers are struggling to open the doors for everyone and, in most cases, those in much need and make sure they have access to the top opportunities, it has been hard to achieve 100%.
In America, social justice historically and in theory implied that everyone in the community should have equal chances to access good health, wealth, justice, well-being, privileges, and other opportunities regardless of their political, legal, and economic factors. America has tried to firmly proclaim the idea of equality and freedom of human rights. The concepts of social justice emerged in the 19th century during the industrial revolution in America (Novak, pg. 12). There were great disparities in wealth and social standing among the population, hence the social justice’ call. The main idea behind social justice in America was to ensure that access to the resources put into account equity, diversity, equal participation, and preservation of human rights. Social justice in the 19th century during the Industrial Revolution was meant to promote egalitarian communities and reduce the overexploitation of marginalized communities through fairness.
What Connections Can You Find Between Social Justice and Social Determinants of Health?
Social justice is meant to provide policy goals of practicing fairness to all people. This includes the improvement and equal access to health facilities by every individual without discrimination. Hence, social justice is meant to improve the public health and general well-being of the human being (Davis, pg. 424). Social determinants of health include housing, good healthcare services, employment provision, education as well as income to the population and, most significantly, the marginalized, disadvantaged communities.
Social justice is also viewed as providing the same services to people. It considers that everyone in the community deserves equal opportunities and rights to education, good health, and employment. Social justice assures everyone in the community has the highest level of health, and hence it addresses social determinants of health and equity of all individuals (Davis, pg. 428). According to the WHO, a social determinant of health has been defined as the conditions in which people are born, grow live, and age and also the basic fundamental drivers of these conditions. However, the term social determent, in most cases, evokes factors such as health-related features including workability, areas of recreation, and also equal accessibility of healthful foods, which has a significant influence on health-related behaviors.
Furthermore, the healthy outcome ranges in socioeconomic factors such as wealth, income, and education. All these concepts of social determinants try to explain social justice and fairness of resources. For example, for the healthy outcome of socioeconomic factors, social justice must cheap in to ensure that there is equality and fairness in distributing and offering such factors (Davis, pg. 429). Actually, beyond health care, the social determinant’s role is to promote health and health equity, which in turn is the major subject in social justice that harmonizes fairness and equal distribution of resources to all people without discrimination.
Social justice is a wide-ranging idea that is not restricted to a particular religious or political group. The term is defined by the Oxford Dictionary (2019) as “Justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society”. This is usually accomplished through institutions or services such as the government which work to ensure individuals can fairly access the advantages of social collaboration and prepare for financial imbalance. Many scholars on social justice have very distinctive and every so often contradicting standards on the matter. Yet, despite these distinctions, they all appear to share one basic message which is ‘equality for all’. An absence of social justice in people brings about an absence of balance and ethical quality in that society, which usually causes lots of issues. Instances of this can be seen prevalently in the healthcare field. When endeavoring to respond to complicated medicinal inquiries, for example, ‘What are the restrictions of duties within the work environment?’, the contention must be examined from a social justice point of view, which means in this condition, ‘what might be good for each person?’ (Peebles, 2016). Social Justice issues likewise apply to considerably more extensive disputes, for example, bigotry, sexism, and so on. These prejudicial issues towards different minorities in society cause significant conflicts because of the absence of fairness and opportunity for these individuals. To stay away from these conflicts examined, and also to maintain a distance from the numerous others not talked about, it’s important to have principles of social justice within society, it may give us a reasonable method for allocating ‘rights and obligations in fundamental foundations’ and can ‘characterize the proper circulation of the advantages and strains of social cooperation’s’ (Peebles, 2016).
‘Social justice’ is regularly considered to be justice of distribution, otherwise, generally called, distributive justice. Well-established practice suggests distributive justice is to be recognized from ‘commutative justice’, the equity of relations among individuals, for example, in purchasing and trading along with all sorts of agreements. Distributive justice is justice about the business of higher networks or specialists, to be specific the state, with single folks set under their position or direction. Distributive justice alludes to the dissemination of difficulties like imposing taxes and of advantages of not just goods but rather things that can’t be brought, for instance, respect (Rhonheimer, 2015).
One of the most persuasive commentators of the idea of social justice has been Friedrich Hayek. This subject initially shows up in Hayek’s work in his acclaimed political tract, The Road to Serfdom (1944), and thereafter in The Constitution of Liberty (1960), yet he built up the contention at outstanding duration in his significant work in political philosophy, the set of three labeled as Law, Legislation, and Liberty (1973-79). For Hayek, it’s important to know societies, markets, and the legitimate frameworks in which markets are inserted as instances of ‘spontaneous order’. However, this is far from a naturally progressing order, especially one separate from the interference of human choices or ‘directing’ by government officials, legal counselors, and administrators. As indicated by Hayek, spontaneous orders are to be recognized from orders that are structured purposefully for a definite reason, something that is common for associations. Social orders, markets, and legitimate systems that consist of an extraordinary number of people with veering inclinations and along these lines, seeking after various ends are not set up like associations, yet emerge as the aftereffect of developmental procedures that are not purposefully intended for a determined end. The laws and institutional standards forming such unconstrained orders can guarantee collaboration between people seeking various ends, refraining the subjection of the legitimate independence of people to the prevailing inclinations of others. The main spontaneous orders suitable with freedom are, in this manner, those ruled by legitimate principles that are available to a vague scope of results and not deliberately intended to achieve a determined end or situation (Mises, 1980).
Free market economies evolve as spontaneous orders. These may be the best possible financial order of a free society. Their distributional results are disorderly, projected or generally guided by any purposeful plan. For that reason, in his The Mirage of Social Justice, Hayek’s point of view is that it is not possible for the result of markets to be called ‘just’ or ‘unjust’ but rather only human behavior can be appointed as ‘just’ or ‘unjust’ (Hayek 1976, p.31). Hayek insists: ‘In a free society wherein the situation of the various people and groups isn’t the consequence of anyone’s plan … the distinctions in remuneration just can’t definitively be portrayed as just or unjust’ (1976, p.70). The market does not act with a solitary goal or reason; it’s anything but an on-screen character and thus, the ethical detail of ‘just’ and ‘unjust’ can’t be connected to its distributional outcomes.
Furthermore, his understanding of the monetary life, of participation and society, is profoundly humanistic; it depends on the power of the distinctive individual and his/her freedom and self-obligation. Hayek is a long way from being impassive towards people who are not fit for partaking in what he refers to as the ‘catallactic game’ of the market. Such people need help or dealt with by the community, if essential by a ‘guaranteed minimum salary, or a story underneath which no one has to plummet’; such security towards outrageous setback ‘could likely be a concern for all; or may feel like an unmistakable moral duty for everyone to help, inside the well-ordered community, the individuals who can’t support themselves’ (1976, p.87).
Another influential political thinker of the twentieth century was Robert Nozick. He released a book ‘Anarchy, State and Utopia’ in 1974, that went on to become a new classic of Political Philosophy. In this book, Nozick built up a political hypothesis which he named ‘Entitlement Theory’. Nozick contended that the minimal state is the broadest state that can be legitimized and that any state broader disregards individuals’ rights (1974, p.149). By minimal state, he implied a State that is restricted to the arrangement of security to members of society and the requirement of contracts.
The entitlement theory depends on the accompanying three principles: 1) An individual who gets a holding in agreement with the principle of justice in obtaining is qualified for that holding, 2) An individual who secures a holding in agreement with the principle of justice in exchange, from another person qualified for the holding, is qualified for the holding 3) No individual is qualified for a holding except stages 1 and 2 repeated (1974, p.151).
As indicated by the entitlement theory, individuals should just have what they are qualified for as indicated by these principles. Nozick doesn’t give a principle of justice in unique procurement nor does he give a principle of justice in relegation. Rather, he falls back on Locke’s theory of property (Netto, 2010).
He recognizes the difference in historical and time-slot principles of distributive justice. Considering the past principles of distributive justice present to various individuals and what they’re entitled to, the theory depends on historical principles as their past actions are taken into account. Then again, the outcome of the principles dismisses past events as a concern. Utilitarian ideas are for instance time-slot principles of distributive justice. The main distinction between end-result principles and past principles of justice is that ‘as opposed to end-result principles of equity, historical principles of equity believe that past conditions or behaviors of individuals can make distinct opportunities or differential deserts to things'(1974, p.155).
Inclusion and teacher’s agency as contributing factors in the development of a socially just classroom for children with additional support needs.
Introduction.
Modern classroom requires an innovative approach to both learning and teaching where children with additional support needs can fully participate in education with their peers without feeling alienated or marginalized. The implementation of government legislation aiming at more inclusive classrooms, allows teachers to become socially just ‘agents of change’ promoting ways of working intended to mitigate inequalities in education stemming from external causes (Florian and Black-Hawkins, 2011). This study focuses on the additional support needs of learners and the problems they may be facing while accessing mainstream education, exploring changes to national policies and legislation introduced throughout the years to alleviate the problem of exclusion and improve the attainment of ASN pupils. It identifies the most commonly occurring barriers to learning for children affected by adverse factors simultaneously proposing how individual pupils can receive extra help or additional support they require without being treated as different or less apt than others. The inclusive pedagogical approach is viewed as a concept within the broader theory of the teacher’s agency in promoting social justice (Panti, 2015). It is different from other attitudes towards learning in that it accepts learners’ idiosyncrasies and differences without imposing mainly individualized approaches in response to such differences making learning more inclusive and socially just in the process (Panti and Florian, 2015).
Defining additional support needs category
It is imperative to first establish a precise characterization of who comprises the additional support needs category, as it is necessary to have a clear picture of possible problems and limitations, they might be facing concerning education. The term ‘additional support needs’ (ASN), introduced into law in 2004, replaced the former ‘special education needs’ definition as a result of a dire need for a suitable and appropriate designation without negative connotations (Peer and Reid, 2021). To the category of children and young adults requiring additional support, we can include those learners who are experiencing an array of conditions that make it more difficult for them to learn than their peers (Scottish Government, 2004). In Scotland, the umbrella term of ASN is used to define those children who are exhibiting signs of physical and sensory impairments, as well as social, behavioral, and emotional difficulties (Barret et al., 2015). Furthermore, new categories have been included that refer to pupils’ social and family situations, those involving children with English as an additional language, looking after individuals, and those with disrupted learning (also known as travelers’ children) (Peer and Reid, 2021). Having established the definition of ASN and who is included in it, the next paragraph will deal with legal policies and laws implemented by governing bodies to recognize and address the problems that children and young learners from ASN groups might be facing and introduce measures to help with integration and inclusion in the variety of educational settings. Â
Additional support needs and inclusion in Scotland
Social justice policies regarding children with additional support needs can be classified as having inclusion principles at their core. There has been a continuing commitment to include all children in mainstream schooling by Scottish education legislation (Riddell, 2009). Presumption of mainstreaming is included in Section 15 of Standards in Scotland’s Schools, Etc. (Scotland) Act 2000, determined that every child in Scotland must have access to mainstream schooling as a part of an inclusive approach to education unless it was deemed disadvantageous to the educational needs of that child or other children with whom the child would be educated (Peer and Reid, 2021). What followed in ensuring greater inclusivity for children and young adults was the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004 (the ASL Act) that brought about an extension to the definition of additional support needs to include children who not only have disabilities but also suffer from difficulties in learning resulting from social disadvantages (Tisdall and Riddell, 2006). Additionally, the Equality Act (2010) aimed at the protection of people with disabilities and prohibiting any forms of discrimination, regardless of whether they stem from physical or mental health problems (Lockwood, Henderson, and Thornicroft, 2012). It also defined disability as a ‘physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on the ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities’ (Office for Disability Issues, 2010). What is more, under 2010 legislation, all educational service providers are required to introduce appropriate alterations to facilitate the inclusion of students with disabilities by providing extra and supplementary aids (Riddell and Weedon, 2014). Having established what constitutes the ASN category next chapter deals with possible problems and obstacles that occur when ASN children experience in mainstream classrooms.
Additional support needs and barriers to learning
Because the category of ASN comprises such a vast array of conditions and impairments, it would be beyond the scope of this paper to present them all, along with the impact they have upon children and young people in the classroom. Instead, the following example constitutes the most common examples of implications and problems affecting children of the ASN group in accessing fair and inclusive education. Firstly, there has been a notable increase in the incidence of numbers of ASN pupils in schools with concurrently reported reduction of funding and school budgets (Kewin and Janowski, 2016; National Audit Office, 2016). As a result, classroom teachers are expected to take responsibility for the academic achievement and attainment of all pupils within the classroom in an inclusive setting. It results in jeopardizing teachers’ efficiency and competence and eventually contributes to teachers’ abandonment of the profession on account of it being perceived as unrealistic, stressful, and unrewarding (Harpell and Andrews, 2010). As far as pupils from the ASN group are concerned the impediment towards inclusion may, on rare occasions, stem from teachers’ opinions concerning integration. Teachers sometimes develop negative attitudes and associations towards the inclusion of children with ASN into the mainstream classroom on account of the process occurring without adequate guidance and a lack of sufficient in-class support (Titone, 2004). They feel inappropriately trained to accommodate children with ASN entrusted in their care and lack the necessary resources for the implementation of inclusive education (Burke and Sutherland, 2004). Moreover, irrespective of extra support requirement the problem of ‘repetition of exclusion’ appears, where pupils with ASN are included in the learning but excluded from taking part in collaborative or group activities because they were given activities differentiated in such a way that they become isolated from the rest of the class despite being physically present (Slee, 2010). Specific ASN types necessitate tailored approaches or at least a fair level of training on the part of the teacher to successfully facilitate inclusion into the mainstream classroom. For instance, individuals with autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) quite often are excluded from attending regular lessons because of developmental disorders which create significant barriers to their participation and socialization with others. According to Jordan (2005) children with autism to benefit from classroom education should be taught to react to social signals and cues, they would have to be instructed in turn-taking and rudiments of social interaction with other children belonging to the same learning group. This would entail teachers acquiring substantial knowledge of ASD to promote inclusive practices in the classroom along with other members of the school community participating in the educational effort. Another group from the ASN category is visually impaired pupils. Children affected by this sensory impairment face significant challenges participating in mainstream schooling as they have restricted or non-existent means of accessing the curriculum via a visual medium and instead, they must use extra hearing or haptic aids to learn (Davis and Hopwood, 2002). It also requires an introduction of an additional program of study that would allow pupils to access the regular curriculum through learning Braille, improving keyboard skills and dexterity, use of speech recognition programs, and developing life skills (David and Hopwood, 2002). The following chapter explores possible approaches to learning allowing for greater inclusion for children with ASN.
Teacher’s role in ensuring inclusive and socially just education
To fully support children and young learners in receiving socially just school experience a new method for inclusion of individuals with additional support needs was in demand. The concept of inclusive pedagogy or inclusive pedagogical approach was established to address pertinent questions about how individuals can receive additional support or extra help they require without being treated differently from the rest of the class (Florian and Black-Hawkins, 2011). Within this innovative pedagogy aimed at the inclusion of all learners and enactment of social justice principles, the classroom teacher provides the opportunity for meaningful participation and involvement in the lesson for everyone without exclusion or marginalization (Florian and Beaton, 2018). As often happens within a classroom, children who are regarded as requiring extra support in learning are provided with additional or different tasks and activities. However, implementing principles of inclusive pedagogy urges teachers to develop procedures where all members of the class can access the same learning without ability grouping or being sent out for additional support (Barret et all., 2015). The modification of what is occurring in the classroom results from changing the focus from perceiving a child as lacking or failing to the teacher’s responsibility and ability in choosing an appropriate method of enabling the participation of all members of the class in the learning community on equal terms (Booth and Ainscow, 2011). The responsibility for the learning of all children within a class falls upon a teacher enhanced by other school employees where necessary or feasible. In the inclusive pedagogy model, teachers should refrain from delegating responsibility for pupils to support learning staff or behavior practitioners and instead are required to develop new ways of collaboration with and through other professionals to facilitate the learning of children, at the same time avoiding the stigmatization that is often associated with certain more conventional concepts of supporting children (Spratt and Florian, 2014). This approach addresses possible adversities that children might be facing by respecting the dignity of every young learner in the classroom (Barrett et all., 2015). Moreover, concerning socially just education, the General Teaching Council for Scotland introduced professional standards that teachers are required to explore and adhere to whilst developing and improving their professional practice (GTCS, 2012). In the document containing standards for full registration and career-long professional learning published by GTC Scotland, teachers can find essential principles and models of practice that directly relate to inclusion and social justice. Under the ‘values and beliefs’ section of the professional standards, some of the points are particularly pertinent to the inclusive model of teaching and state that education professionals must be committed to ‘the principles of democracy and social justice through fair, transparent, inclusive and sustainable practices’ and must respect the rights of all learners following the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (GTCS, 2012). Additionally, it also mentions that teachers must recognize children’s social and economic circumstances, individuality, and specific learning needs and consider barriers to learning which is particularly relevant to the ASN context in question. Also, in the context of ensuring that children receive a socially just school experience new national curriculum was developed in Scotland introducing changes to the position of teachers and learners. Curriculum for Excellence, implemented in 2010, placed teachers as agents of change utilizing both social justice principles and an inclusive approach to learning to promote fairer classrooms where all children are accepted and appreciated (Education Scotland, 2012). In its innovative design, CfE places learners at the center of educational effort with a great deal of personalization and choice intended for better inclusion of all pupils regardless of their background, ability, or personal circumstances (Reeves, 2013). CfE is perceived as granting greater autonomy to learners and allowing teachers to tailor learning for pupils’ individual needs in the whole class context which has the potential to improve engagement and motivation (Priestly and Minty, 2013).
Conclusions
A contemporary Scottish classroom is a welcoming place for children coming from a variety of backgrounds, with different skills and abilities. New policies developed to tackle the problem of inclusion, such as the Additional Support for Learning (Scotland) Act 2004, have been critical in establishing more socially just practices in schools. However, as a result of an increasing number of pupils with ASN and a shortage of staff trained in specific ASN categories, it was necessary to implement a new inclusive pedagogical approach. It places children at the center of learning and acknowledges teachers as agents of change and social justice. It suggests that teachers must be viewed as capable agents, whose assumptions of students’ learning capacity, choice of pedagogy, and methods of collaborative practice have a substantial impact on students’ attainment.
What do you think the world would look like if our favorite food was not at our fingertips? There is no supermarket, no stores, no farms… we would have to put in a lot of work, just to eat every day. Food is used essentially for the nourishment of our bodies for nutritional value. However, during the nineteenth century, the British Empire had a hidden meaning between food and power, in other words, the food was not at their fingertips. For instance, in the nineteenth century, the tea trade and tea production played a very important and fundamental role in British rule (McMichael pg. 21). Tea was an essential commodity of trade during the nineteenth century. It was Britain’s favorite food, but they needed to get it from India or China. Britain had developed a hot beverage taste and was much in need of tea and coffee. Britain had developed tastes and preferences towards tea, and they had to use all the available tactics and their power to get the commodity.
The British government encouraged tea drinking because of the government’s revenue to obtain and gain from the tea taxes. The Britain government used its power and levied taxes on its subjects to get money for tea importation. Between 1720 and 1750, the Britain government imported tea from East India companies to isles within their territories. To import tea, coffee, and other commodities, the British government imposed high taxes on the citizens, which in turn they used for the tea importation (McMichael pg. 22). Also, the British government established tea factories within their territory and enslaved people to work in the factories. This brought a lot of discussion and definition about the relationship between food and power. In that case, therefore, the British government is known to have used its power to get food, that is, tea from East India. The British government encouraged tea drinking because of the revenue the government used to obtain and gain from the tea taxes.
European countries had great sugar plantations, which were covered by sugar cane fields. This was one of the major parts of the economy in the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries. Most of the Caribbean islands were covered by sugar cane fields, and mills were also established for refining the sugar cane crop. Slaves provided the most common labor until when chattel slavery was abolished (Inikori pg. 143). During the transatlantic slave trade, the Americans were sold to white people and forced to go and work in the sugar cane farms and plantations. During the mid-nineteenth century, there was human trade across the Atlantic Ocean where the white people used to buy Africans across the Atlantic Ocean and take them to the sugarcane plantations to provide manual labor. The trade of slaves across the Atlantic Ocean was one of the largest long-distance trade movements of the people in history.
This slave trade helped the sugar production in the European countries since the slaves who were captured in the trade used to be taken to provide labor in the sugar plantations. The connection between the trans-Atlantic trade of slaves and sugar production was that the African slaves who were sold during the trans-Atlantic slave trade were taken to the sugar cane plantations on the island of the Caribbean to provide manual labor (Inikori pg. 147). Europeans enjoyed their sugar which forced them to engage in the inhuman slave trade across the Atlantic Ocean. The conditions for enslaved people on sugar plantations in the islands of the Caribbean were especially brutal. The Europeans were driven by the profits they made from the sugar plantations, and the owners of the farms saw enslaved labor as a less expensive way for sugar production.
From the great labor provided by the enslaved Africans, the sugar processing industries in Europe and the United States developed. This led to the Industrial Revolution. The Industrial Revolution was a transition to the new manufacturing processes in Europe and the United States. The growth of sugar production led to innovation and growth of the technology of sugar processing and manufacturing (Inikori pg. 154). The Industrial Revolution emerged in Great Britain, and many of the technologies originated from Britain. Therefore, the sugar plantations, the trans-Atlantic slave trade, and the industrial revolutions had close connections for all the activities that depended on each other. The slaves obtained during the trans-Atlantic trade were taken to the sugar cane plantation for the provision of manual labor. This contributed to the growth of the sugar plantations and hence the industrial revolutions.
Define Social Justice
Social justice believes that every individual in society deserves equal chances for political, social, and economic opportunities and rights. It refers to a political and philosophical theory that focuses on the concepts of fairness in relations between individual citizens in society and equal access to wealth, opportunities, and social privileges in a society (Novak, pg. 11). However, practicing social justice has been an issue in many countries. Although social workers are struggling to open the doors for everyone and, in most cases, those in much need and make sure they have access to the top opportunities, it has been hard to achieve 100%.
In America, social justice historically and in theory implied that everyone in the community should have equal chances to access good health, wealth, justice, well-being, privileges, and other opportunities regardless of their political, legal, and economic factors. America has tried to firmly proclaim the idea of equality and freedom of human rights. The concepts of social justice emerged in the 19th century during the industrial revolution in America (Novak, pg. 12). There were great disparities in wealth and social standing among the population, hence the social justice’ call. The main idea behind social justice in America was to ensure that access to the resources put into account equity, diversity, equal participation, and preservation of human rights. Social justice in the 19th century during the Industrial Revolution was meant to promote egalitarian communities and reduce the overexploitation of marginalized communities through fairness.
What Connections Can You Find Between Social Justice and Social Determinants of Health?
Social justice is meant to provide policy goals of practicing fairness to all people. This includes the improvement and equal access to health facilities by every individual without discrimination. Hence, social justice is meant to improve the public health and general well-being of the human being (Davis, pg. 424). Social determinants of health include housing, good healthcare services, employment provision, education as well as income to the population and, most significantly, the marginalized, disadvantaged communities.
Social justice is also viewed as providing the same services to people. It considers that everyone in the community deserves equal opportunities and rights to education, good health, and employment. Social justice assures everyone in the community has the highest level of health, and hence it addresses social determinants of health and equity of all individuals (Davis, pg. 428). According to the WHO, a social determinant of health has been defined as the conditions in which people are born, grow live, and age and also the basic fundamental drivers of these conditions. However, the term social determent, in most cases, evokes factors such as health-related features including workability, areas of recreation, and also equal accessibility of healthful foods, which has a significant influence on health-related behaviors.
Furthermore, the healthy outcome ranges in socioeconomic factors such as wealth, income, and education. All these concepts of social determinants try to explain social justice and fairness of resources. For example, for the healthy outcome of socioeconomic factors, social justice must cheap in to ensure that there is equality and fairness in distributing and offering such factors (Davis, pg. 429). Actually, beyond health care, the social determinant’s role is to promote health and health equity, which in turn is the major subject in social justice that harmonizes fairness and equal distribution of resources to all people without discrimination.
Social justice is a wide-ranging idea that is not restricted to a particular religious or political group. The term is defined by the Oxford Dictionary (2019) as “Justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society”. This is usually accomplished through institutions or services such as the government which work to ensure individuals can fairly access the advantages of social collaboration and prepare for financial imbalance. Many scholars on social justice have very distinctive and every so often contradicting standards on the matter. Yet, despite these distinctions, they all appear to share one basic message which is ‘equality for all’. An absence of social justice in people brings about an absence of balance and ethical quality in that society, which usually causes lots of issues. Instances of this can be seen prevalently in the healthcare field. When endeavoring to respond to complicated medicinal inquiries, for example, ‘What are the restrictions of duties within the work environment?’, the contention must be examined from a social justice point of view, which means in this condition, ‘what might be good for each person?’ (Peebles, 2016). Social Justice issues likewise apply to considerably more extensive disputes, for example, bigotry, sexism, and so on. These prejudicial issues towards different minorities in society cause significant conflicts because of the absence of fairness and opportunity for these individuals. To stay away from these conflicts examined, and also to maintain a distance from the numerous others not talked about, it’s important to have principles of social justice within society, it may give us a reasonable method for allocating ‘rights and obligations in fundamental foundations’ and can ‘characterize the proper circulation of the advantages and strains of social cooperation’s’ (Peebles, 2016).
‘Social justice’ is regularly considered to be justice of distribution, otherwise, generally called, distributive justice. Well-established practice suggests distributive justice is to be recognized from ‘commutative justice’, the equity of relations among individuals, for example, in purchasing and trading along with all sorts of agreements. Distributive justice is justice about the business of higher networks or specialists, to be specific the state, with single folks set under their position or direction. Distributive justice alludes to the dissemination of difficulties like imposing taxes and of advantages of not just goods but rather things that can’t be brought, for instance, respect (Rhonheimer, 2015).
One of the most persuasive commentators of the idea of social justice has been Friedrich Hayek. This subject initially shows up in Hayek’s work in his acclaimed political tract, The Road to Serfdom (1944), and thereafter in The Constitution of Liberty (1960), yet he built up the contention at outstanding duration in his significant work in political philosophy, the set of three labeled as Law, Legislation, and Liberty (1973-79). For Hayek, it’s important to know societies, markets, and the legitimate frameworks in which markets are inserted as instances of ‘spontaneous order’. However, this is far from a naturally progressing order, especially one separate from the interference of human choices or ‘directing’ by government officials, legal counselors, and administrators. As indicated by Hayek, spontaneous orders are to be recognized from orders that are structured purposefully for a definite reason, something that is common for associations. Social orders, markets, and legitimate systems that consist of an extraordinary number of people with veering inclinations and along these lines, seeking after various ends are not set up like associations, yet emerge as the aftereffect of developmental procedures that are not purposefully intended for a determined end. The laws and institutional standards forming such unconstrained orders can guarantee collaboration between people seeking various ends, refraining the subjection of the legitimate independence of people to the prevailing inclinations of others. The main spontaneous orders suitable with freedom are, in this manner, those ruled by legitimate principles that are available to a vague scope of results and not deliberately intended to achieve a determined end or situation (Mises, 1980).
Free market economies evolve as spontaneous orders. These may be the best possible financial order of a free society. Their distributional results are disorderly, projected or generally guided by any purposeful plan. For that reason, in his The Mirage of Social Justice, Hayek’s point of view is that it is not possible for the result of markets to be called ‘just’ or ‘unjust’ but rather only human behavior can be appointed as ‘just’ or ‘unjust’ (Hayek 1976, p.31). Hayek insists: ‘In a free society wherein the situation of the various people and groups isn’t the consequence of anyone’s plan … the distinctions in remuneration just can’t definitively be portrayed as just or unjust’ (1976, p.70). The market does not act with a solitary goal or reason; it’s anything but an on-screen character and thus, the ethical detail of ‘just’ and ‘unjust’ can’t be connected to its distributional outcomes.
Furthermore, his understanding of the monetary life, of participation and society, is profoundly humanistic; it depends on the power of the distinctive individual and his/her freedom and self-obligation. Hayek is a long way from being impassive towards people who are not fit for partaking in what he refers to as the ‘catallactic game’ of the market. Such people need help or dealt with by the community, if essential by a ‘guaranteed minimum salary, or a story underneath which no one has to plummet’; such security towards outrageous setback ‘could likely be a concern for all; or may feel like an unmistakable moral duty for everyone to help, inside the well-ordered community, the individuals who can’t support themselves’ (1976, p.87).
Another influential political thinker of the twentieth century was Robert Nozick. He released a book ‘Anarchy, State and Utopia’ in 1974, that went on to become a new classic of Political Philosophy. In this book, Nozick built up a political hypothesis which he named ‘Entitlement Theory’. Nozick contended that the minimal state is the broadest state that can be legitimized and that any state broader disregards individuals’ rights (1974, p.149). By minimal state, he implied a State that is restricted to the arrangement of security to members of society and the requirement of contracts.
The entitlement theory depends on the accompanying three principles: 1) An individual who gets a holding in agreement with the principle of justice in obtaining is qualified for that holding, 2) An individual who secures a holding in agreement with the principle of justice in exchange, from another person qualified for the holding, is qualified for the holding 3) No individual is qualified for a holding except stages 1 and 2 repeated (1974, p.151).
As indicated by the entitlement theory, individuals should just have what they are qualified for as indicated by these principles. Nozick doesn’t give a principle of justice in unique procurement nor does he give a principle of justice in relegation. Rather, he falls back on Locke’s theory of property (Netto, 2010).
He recognizes the difference in historical and time-slot principles of distributive justice. Considering the past principles of distributive justice present to various individuals and what they’re entitled to, the theory depends on historical principles as their past actions are taken into account. Then again, the outcome of the principles dismisses past events as a concern. Utilitarian ideas are for instance time-slot principles of distributive justice. The main distinction between end-result principles and past principles of justice is that ‘as opposed to end-result principles of equity, historical principles of equity believe that past conditions or behaviors of individuals can make distinct opportunities or differential deserts to things'(1974, p.155).
Inclusion and teacher’s agency as contributing factors in the development of a socially just classroom for children with additional support needs.
Introduction.
Modern classroom requires an innovative approach to both learning and teaching where children with additional support needs can fully participate in education with their peers without feeling alienated or marginalized. The implementation of government legislation aiming at more inclusive classrooms, allows teachers to become socially just ‘agents of change’ promoting ways of working intended to mitigate inequalities in education stemming from external causes (Florian and Black-Hawkins, 2011). This study focuses on the additional support needs of learners and the problems they may be facing while accessing mainstream education, exploring changes to national policies and legislation introduced throughout the years to alleviate the problem of exclusion and improve the attainment of ASN pupils. It identifies the most commonly occurring barriers to learning for children affected by adverse factors simultaneously proposing how individual pupils can receive extra help or additional support they require without being treated as different or less apt than others. The inclusive pedagogical approach is viewed as a concept within the broader theory of the teacher’s agency in promoting social justice (Panti, 2015). It is different from other attitudes towards learning in that it accepts learners’ idiosyncrasies and differences without imposing mainly individualized approaches in response to such differences making learning more inclusive and socially just in the process (Panti and Florian, 2015).
Defining additional support needs category
It is imperative to first establish a precise characterization of who comprises the additional support needs category, as it is necessary to have a clear picture of possible problems and limitations, they might be facing concerning education. The term ‘additional support needs’ (ASN), introduced into law in 2004, replaced the former ‘special education needs’ definition as a result of a dire need for a suitable and appropriate designation without negative connotations (Peer and Reid, 2021). To the category of children and young adults requiring additional support, we can include those learners who are experiencing an array of conditions that make it more difficult for them to learn than their peers (Scottish Government, 2004). In Scotland, the umbrella term of ASN is used to define those children who are exhibiting signs of physical and sensory impairments, as well as social, behavioral, and emotional difficulties (Barret et al., 2015). Furthermore, new categories have been included that refer to pupils’ social and family situations, those involving children with English as an additional language, looking after individuals, and those with disrupted learning (also known as travelers’ children) (Peer and Reid, 2021). Having established the definition of ASN and who is included in it, the next paragraph will deal with legal policies and laws implemented by governing bodies to recognize and address the problems that children and young learners from ASN groups might be facing and introduce measures to help with integration and inclusion in the variety of educational settings. Â
Additional support needs and inclusion in Scotland
Social justice policies regarding children with additional support needs can be classified as having inclusion principles at their core. There has been a continuing commitment to include all children in mainstream schooling by Scottish education legislation (Riddell, 2009). Presumption of mainstreaming is included in Section 15 of Standards in Scotland’s Schools, Etc. (Scotland) Act 2000, determined that every child in Scotland must have access to mainstream schooling as a part of an inclusive approach to education unless it was deemed disadvantageous to the educational needs of that child or other children with whom the child would be educated (Peer and Reid, 2021). What followed in ensuring greater inclusivity for children and young adults was the Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act 2004 (the ASL Act) that brought about an extension to the definition of additional support needs to include children who not only have disabilities but also suffer from difficulties in learning resulting from social disadvantages (Tisdall and Riddell, 2006). Additionally, the Equality Act (2010) aimed at the protection of people with disabilities and prohibiting any forms of discrimination, regardless of whether they stem from physical or mental health problems (Lockwood, Henderson, and Thornicroft, 2012). It also defined disability as a ‘physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on the ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities’ (Office for Disability Issues, 2010). What is more, under 2010 legislation, all educational service providers are required to introduce appropriate alterations to facilitate the inclusion of students with disabilities by providing extra and supplementary aids (Riddell and Weedon, 2014). Having established what constitutes the ASN category next chapter deals with possible problems and obstacles that occur when ASN children experience in mainstream classrooms.
Additional support needs and barriers to learning
Because the category of ASN comprises such a vast array of conditions and impairments, it would be beyond the scope of this paper to present them all, along with the impact they have upon children and young people in the classroom. Instead, the following example constitutes the most common examples of implications and problems affecting children of the ASN group in accessing fair and inclusive education. Firstly, there has been a notable increase in the incidence of numbers of ASN pupils in schools with concurrently reported reduction of funding and school budgets (Kewin and Janowski, 2016; National Audit Office, 2016). As a result, classroom teachers are expected to take responsibility for the academic achievement and attainment of all pupils within the classroom in an inclusive setting. It results in jeopardizing teachers’ efficiency and competence and eventually contributes to teachers’ abandonment of the profession on account of it being perceived as unrealistic, stressful, and unrewarding (Harpell and Andrews, 2010). As far as pupils from the ASN group are concerned the impediment towards inclusion may, on rare occasions, stem from teachers’ opinions concerning integration. Teachers sometimes develop negative attitudes and associations towards the inclusion of children with ASN into the mainstream classroom on account of the process occurring without adequate guidance and a lack of sufficient in-class support (Titone, 2004). They feel inappropriately trained to accommodate children with ASN entrusted in their care and lack the necessary resources for the implementation of inclusive education (Burke and Sutherland, 2004). Moreover, irrespective of extra support requirement the problem of ‘repetition of exclusion’ appears, where pupils with ASN are included in the learning but excluded from taking part in collaborative or group activities because they were given activities differentiated in such a way that they become isolated from the rest of the class despite being physically present (Slee, 2010). Specific ASN types necessitate tailored approaches or at least a fair level of training on the part of the teacher to successfully facilitate inclusion into the mainstream classroom. For instance, individuals with autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) quite often are excluded from attending regular lessons because of developmental disorders which create significant barriers to their participation and socialization with others. According to Jordan (2005) children with autism to benefit from classroom education should be taught to react to social signals and cues, they would have to be instructed in turn-taking and rudiments of social interaction with other children belonging to the same learning group. This would entail teachers acquiring substantial knowledge of ASD to promote inclusive practices in the classroom along with other members of the school community participating in the educational effort. Another group from the ASN category is visually impaired pupils. Children affected by this sensory impairment face significant challenges participating in mainstream schooling as they have restricted or non-existent means of accessing the curriculum via a visual medium and instead, they must use extra hearing or haptic aids to learn (Davis and Hopwood, 2002). It also requires an introduction of an additional program of study that would allow pupils to access the regular curriculum through learning Braille, improving keyboard skills and dexterity, use of speech recognition programs, and developing life skills (David and Hopwood, 2002). The following chapter explores possible approaches to learning allowing for greater inclusion for children with ASN.
Teacher’s role in ensuring inclusive and socially just education
To fully support children and young learners in receiving socially just school experience a new method for inclusion of individuals with additional support needs was in demand. The concept of inclusive pedagogy or inclusive pedagogical approach was established to address pertinent questions about how individuals can receive additional support or extra help they require without being treated differently from the rest of the class (Florian and Black-Hawkins, 2011). Within this innovative pedagogy aimed at the inclusion of all learners and enactment of social justice principles, the classroom teacher provides the opportunity for meaningful participation and involvement in the lesson for everyone without exclusion or marginalization (Florian and Beaton, 2018). As often happens within a classroom, children who are regarded as requiring extra support in learning are provided with additional or different tasks and activities. However, implementing principles of inclusive pedagogy urges teachers to develop procedures where all members of the class can access the same learning without ability grouping or being sent out for additional support (Barret et all., 2015). The modification of what is occurring in the classroom results from changing the focus from perceiving a child as lacking or failing to the teacher’s responsibility and ability in choosing an appropriate method of enabling the participation of all members of the class in the learning community on equal terms (Booth and Ainscow, 2011). The responsibility for the learning of all children within a class falls upon a teacher enhanced by other school employees where necessary or feasible. In the inclusive pedagogy model, teachers should refrain from delegating responsibility for pupils to support learning staff or behavior practitioners and instead are required to develop new ways of collaboration with and through other professionals to facilitate the learning of children, at the same time avoiding the stigmatization that is often associated with certain more conventional concepts of supporting children (Spratt and Florian, 2014). This approach addresses possible adversities that children might be facing by respecting the dignity of every young learner in the classroom (Barrett et all., 2015). Moreover, concerning socially just education, the General Teaching Council for Scotland introduced professional standards that teachers are required to explore and adhere to whilst developing and improving their professional practice (GTCS, 2012). In the document containing standards for full registration and career-long professional learning published by GTC Scotland, teachers can find essential principles and models of practice that directly relate to inclusion and social justice. Under the ‘values and beliefs’ section of the professional standards, some of the points are particularly pertinent to the inclusive model of teaching and state that education professionals must be committed to ‘the principles of democracy and social justice through fair, transparent, inclusive and sustainable practices’ and must respect the rights of all learners following the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (GTCS, 2012). Additionally, it also mentions that teachers must recognize children’s social and economic circumstances, individuality, and specific learning needs and consider barriers to learning which is particularly relevant to the ASN context in question. Also, in the context of ensuring that children receive a socially just school experience new national curriculum was developed in Scotland introducing changes to the position of teachers and learners. Curriculum for Excellence, implemented in 2010, placed teachers as agents of change utilizing both social justice principles and an inclusive approach to learning to promote fairer classrooms where all children are accepted and appreciated (Education Scotland, 2012). In its innovative design, CfE places learners at the center of educational effort with a great deal of personalization and choice intended for better inclusion of all pupils regardless of their background, ability, or personal circumstances (Reeves, 2013). CfE is perceived as granting greater autonomy to learners and allowing teachers to tailor learning for pupils’ individual needs in the whole class context which has the potential to improve engagement and motivation (Priestly and Minty, 2013).
Conclusions
A contemporary Scottish classroom is a welcoming place for children coming from a variety of backgrounds, with different skills and abilities. New policies developed to tackle the problem of inclusion, such as the Additional Support for Learning (Scotland) Act 2004, have been critical in establishing more socially just practices in schools. However, as a result of an increasing number of pupils with ASN and a shortage of staff trained in specific ASN categories, it was necessary to implement a new inclusive pedagogical approach. It places children at the center of learning and acknowledges teachers as agents of change and social justice. It suggests that teachers must be viewed as capable agents, whose assumptions of students’ learning capacity, choice of pedagogy, and methods of collaborative practice have a substantial impact on students’ attainment.
The rapid increase in new digital technologies accompanied by the progression of media and communications have brought about moral, social and political issues, especially in the ethics behind government surveillance. These critical issues have sparked a wide spread debates in morality in social justice, social freedom and privacy, and digital censorship in the power of surveillance. With the current state of academic literature limited to Wikileaks, an international non-profit organisation which publishes networks of corruption that assist in US lead global war on terror and secrets leaked by anonymous sources, former CIA systems administrator, Edward Snowden, further expounds on these political and social changes in government surveillance (Lynch, 2014). Similar to WikiLeaks, Snowden questions the legality of the legal system and appeals to the public for global justice.
Morality in social justice – Hero or traitor?
Provocations in morality
Snowden caught the NSA spying domestically and considered this act illegal and unconstitutional as it was incongruent with the Fourth and Fifth Amendments to the US Constitution CITE THIS. This exposure of the USA (United States of America) National Security Agency (NSA) not only marked a distinctive moment in modern history on the evolution of the internet but also earned him the title of civil disobedience by many.
Civil disobedience is defined as being defiant towards the law within the limits of fidelity to the law. This essentially means taking a non-violent approach in denying the commands of a higher power or government. Civil disobedience often occurs when the action of breaking the law is carried out in a public, non-violent nature.
Jeremy Waldron describes the law as a shared public code that offers a collective clear and cogent normative framework he further explains that the law binds a political community together by successful agreements on the shared public rule in order for society to flourish. Law breakers who avoids prosecution when breaking the law are essentially deemed as criminals.
King describes civil disobedience as law breakers enduring legal repercussions to express their respect for “highest respect for law”. In accepting given punishment even for an unjust law, law breakers, this would portray their fidelity for the basic legitimacy of the legal order.
However, with the intention of bringing about a change in the policies imposed by the government, John Rawls argues this act of public, nonviolent, conscientious yet political disobedient act to the law to the law as a sophisticated defence of conscientious law-breaking. Rawls assures that there is no difficulty in resorting to civil disobedience as a tactic for overturning an unjust and corrupt system. He notes that neither willingness not unwillingness to accept legal consequences marks a certain attitude towards the law. Unwillingness to accept the legal consequences does not necessarily mark fidelity to the law because a deviant may have other reasons for accepting the legal consequences as it might stand for a more strategical approach. Punishment for an offence may the foundational reason for the defiant to opposed whereby they seek to highlight this by breaching the law in question.
Brownlee offers a philosophical approach that examines the role of conscientious motivation in civil disobedience as a conscientious communicative breach of law motivated by genuine moral commitment.
Snowden was compelled by his moral obligation to engage in a politically motivated law-breaking. He explained that his actions are distinguishable from ordinary criminality and did not cumulate in reckless lawlessness. His actions questions liberal and democratic ideas about civil disobedience. Snowden understands that conscientious law-breaking is best “within the limits of fidelity to the law”. On this notion, selective law-breaking as part of a foundational appeal to the broader system of legality. Snowden intentions were acted as he believed that the terrible political injustices occurring should be brought the public attention and made the object of wide-ranging public awareness. His moral decision was act upon only after periods of introspection and reflection. Snowden understands that conscientious breach of the law performed with overall fidelity to the law and a willingness to take responsibility for action and accept punishment.
5Scheuerman supports this statement by noting that Snowden’s evasion of the country was carried out because of Snowden’s knowledge that he would not stand to receive a fair trial in the USA. He observes that by participating in the risk of his actions, he became complicit in the government’s attack on the rule of the law. If peaceful law-breakers are presented with a situation where punishments were made arbitrary to prevent potential future protestors from publicising their view, it would be justifiable to evade punishment.55
Joseph Raz argues that although Snowden performed a civil disobedient act by leaking the information unannounced and initially covert but he portrayed moral responsibility by acknowledging the act and reasoned why he undertook it.5
His punishment albeit not the one imposed by law, is still a great measure of lost and punishment.It has cost him his well-paying join and secure life along with his country, friends and family. It was worth noting that punishment through exile has outlined a moral justification for his actions. Through disclosing his identity, he reflects the willingness to the the risk and cost of being punished. This meant he had to endure the substantial loss of his citizenship and resident rights in the USA.
Snowden condones the violation of particular laws and policies solely due to their incongruence with more fundamental laws. In December 2013, he argues that his obligations to the US Constitution overrides any civil contract such as the government non-disclosure agreement he signed.16 Snowden’s actions should not be deemed as civil disobedience as they are morally justified. Snowden adopted the responsibility as a public official to exercise first-order moral reasoning about the NSA programs. He was sensitive to the information leaked and stood on the political grounds that the public are entitled to the informed about the policies that lack judicial and congressional oversight. The moral argument on personal privacy was that the public should not be overrun by policies without having an informed decision.
Snowden handled the information with great care and responsibility. He evaluated every single document he disclosed to ensure that they were in the public interest to avoid harming the people involved, contrary to how WikiLeaks dealt with sensitive information. This non-violent and selfless act reflects his purpose to peacefully transforming US policy. Snowden approaches the situation with non-violence which is essential to the issue at hand to avoid the harm of others whilst will pursuing the objective of persuading political powers of the need to correct the injustices in the law. Bedau aptly describes this type of non-violent public minded action as an ideal political discourse based on a rational exchange, tolerance, responsibility and patience. His willingness to act in the transparency of disclosing his identity to the public attest to his moral seriousness.
Snowden exposed his identity and sought moral justification by explaining that his reasons for leaking government information was to create awareness so the public are able to make an informed decision about these programs on the parameters of privacy and governance.
Digital rights
Privacy intrusion / freedom of speech
Social changes
New forms of social justice
Public opinion
Propaganda through digital censorship
Security and freedom of speech
What is the balance between our right to privacy and the authority’s duty to protect us
Mohamed El-Baradei states that social media has emerged as the most powerful communication tool to deploy and conceptualise ideas which makes political waves within modern communication technology (El-Baradei, 2011). It is widely known that digital media has created a positive impact on society. This positive change constitutes as Liberation Technology” which is also referred to as information and communication technology used to expand political, social and economic freedom (Diamond, 2010: 70). Research have exemplified positive correlation between the internet and quality of political institutions. However, these results may be explained by the fact that democracies are more exposed to digital communications (Milner, 2006) and may not indicate a casual effect between the two factors.
To support organisation of local opposition and protest, information communication online can be sent to like-minded citizens from the comforts of their home. With an in increase in information transfer, domestic protestors are more likely to discover others with similar attitudes thus overcoming the problem collectively. Numerous polls were conducted after the Snowden leak in 2013. Rasmussen Reports discovered that fifty-nine percent opposed to the federal government secretly collecting personal data (Rasmussen Reports).
In 2007, BBC reported the increasing struggle to access websites detailing information independent of the regime, even when attempting to use proxy servers. Relating to the Snowden-NSA scandal, some hard disk containing Snowden’s material were destroyed as instructed by the Government Communications Headquarters (Harding, 2014). Several The Guardian journalist were detailed by government authorities (Devereaux, 2014).
WikiLeaks, an organization dedicated to global justice, broke the fiscal blockade of global capital through the power of cyber rebellion and the shinning light on freedom and censorship. Founder of WikiLeaks, Julian Assange explained that The West has was monopolised power through monetary tactics. Free speech in The West is worthless as it lacks power to lead substantial political changes. This is in contrast with other states such as China where pervasive censorship is implemented as speech still holds power (Assange 2010). WikiLeaks quintessentially illustrates that by destabilising power invokes the power to intercept the critical issue of transparency and censorship.
Digital media may be a powerful tool for those who aim to expand their political agenda or organise anti regime demonstrations. Digital censorship not only filters out identifying protestors and negative government content, it can also be used to push out pro-government propaganda to increase support.
Power in surveillance
Digital connectivity has the ability to facilitate the search for material unfavorable to political powers or the identification of individuals propagating online. This mechanism for attaining power and control is technologically and financially feasible for governments to store nearly complete records of data thus being able to track with precision an unimaginably large number of people.
Mass communication through new media may potentially enable rulers to assert control over the population via propaganda digital devices. New media potentially enables the control of information and may utilise this power as a tool to manipulate mass communication.
Snowden and WikiLeaks are often framed negatively when reported in the media (Hindman and Thomas, 2014). Several major journalist and media pundits frame him in a negative light and portray him as a narcissist. Journalists were more compelled to label him as a whistleblower rather than a hero. However, this is in contrast with global journalism where China Daily and Chinese microblog platform, Sina Weibo expressed solidarity and support to Edward Snowden for the courage to ‘expose US hypocrisy’ thus defining him as a hero (Wang, 2013).
Government surveillance argues that surveillance programs and implemented to keep us safe from terrorism however Snowden identified that mass surveillance NSA programs under the veil of countering terrorism have not shown any value in countering terrorist attacks. Government surveillance albeit implemented to increase security, has not only stripped the public of their online privacy but have imposed digital censorship thus altering the perception of implemented laws and free speech.
In conclusion, surveillance preys on the lack of privacy at the expense of the public’s liberty. Snowden has brought light to the civic rights in the world of metadata and surveillance thus giving citizens the opportunity and access to the information that they need to make smarter political choices. The fear of becoming a subject to the government holds fear, especially in this pivotal juncture where the cost of democracy is uncertain. The lack of legal regulation, and strong judicial oversight in the developing world have led to these really strong, outrages oversteps when it comes to surveillance. Snowden’s voice of reasoning appeals to individual conscientiousness in attaining global progression in the digital world.
The public’s perception of same sex relationships has undergone significant changes in the past century. As of the early 20th century, homosexual relations were shunned and criminalized in many nations through a number of sodomy laws.
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 and lesbian rights movement. These riots led to the formation of the Gay Liberation Front which demanded for the respect and the end of anti-gay legislation and police harassment.
The movement saw gay oppression as a social problem that required social structural changes to solve. The efforts of gay activists in the 1960s resulted in a decriminalization of same-sex conduct and to a large extent, an abolishment of most of the discriminations based on sexual orientation (Volokh 106).
However, in spite of the significant victories which the gay community has won in its quest for equality over the decades, gays in the US today continue to suffer from various forms of inequalities. Arguably the most visible inequality is the denial or marriage rights to same sex couples. This paper will highlight causes of the struggles faced by the gay community and articulate some social justice solutions to the problem.
Causes of Opposition
Before the beginning of the 21st century, no nations or state had ever considered affording same-sex couples legal rights. Today, same-sex marriages have been realized in some countries and also a number of American states. Civil unions are acceptable to many and a majority of gay couples are able to enjoy some of the benefits that were previously restricted to heterosexual couples.
Support in the US for legal recognition for homosexual relations was high from 1960s up to 1990s with many Americans supporting the efforts of gay rights activists. However, this popular support has experienced significant declines following the landmark Texas anti-sodomy law of 2003 which made some gay and lesbian activities not only legal but protected by the law all through the US.
This ruling was viewed by many social conservative groups as a precursor to even more gay civil rights and because of this, there has been a backlash against recognition of gay relationships by many conservative groups. As a result of the successes of gay right activists, many counteractions which are primarily aimed at preventing gay rights have been launched.
The most significant of this has been the widespread efforts to prevent the legalization of same-sex marriages in many American states. Wardle notes that some states have gone as far as to make amendments to their constitutions so as to explicitly prohibit same-sex marriage.
Religion has played a major role in the denial of rights for gay and lesbian couples. As a matter of fact, the biggest opposition to same-sex unions stems from the religious beliefs of people with religions such as Christianity and Islam condemning homosexuality as evil and an abomination.
The Vatican which is the head of the largest Christian population in the world strongly declares that “there are absolutely no grounds for considering homosexual unions to be in any way similar or even remotely analogous to God’s plan for marriage and family” (Ratzinger and Amato 1).
Denike articulates that in the US, there is fear among the Christian population that allowing gay marriages would be crossing the line of “toleration of evil” and the “approval or legalization of evil” (71).
This observation is corroborated by Alvare who notes that “leading communities of faith in the United States are on record opposing the legal recognition of same-sex marriage” (349).To this section of the population; while sexual minorities and their relationships should be tolerated, they should not be entitled to state-administered benefits and special rights.
Volokh notes that it is because of the religious views of many public officials that the fight for legal recognition of same-sex marriages has enjoyed relatively limited success (1166). While the constitution calls for equality rights for all citizens, amendments have been proposed based on religious sentiments to “protect marriage” from the judicial system which fails to find compelling reasons to justify the discriminatory exclusion of gays and lesbians.
Adverse Impacts of Opposition
A lack of justice has led to unnecessary suffering and harassment to gay individuals. Macgillivray reports that majority of openly identifying gay and lesbian students in America’s schools experience significant levels of violence from their peers (347). The struggle by gay activists to stop discrimination in schools has been opposed by morally conservative parents.
For these parents, school policies that prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation lead to an inclusion of gay and lesbian issues in the curriculum which helps promote and legitimize homosexuality as being equal to heterosexuality (Macgillivray 348). The morally conservative parents therefore fiercely resist such policies since for them, the policies send out the message that “it’s ok to be gay” to their children.
Social Justice Perspective
Equality is one of the founding principles of the United States and since the formulation of the constitution; laws and amendments have been made to extend equality to all people irrespective of their races and religion. Social justice is concerned with whether a society distributes its benefits “fairly and equitably” among its citizens (Blackwell, Janice and Sophia 28). Social justice demands that equal rights and opportunities be afforded to all members of the society.
As it currently stands, gay and lesbian couples are given certain rights and privileges in most states. However, these rights and privileges vary from state to state and there is a nearly universal denial of the right to marry for same-sex couples. Due to the disparity in laws protecting gay couples between states, gay couples can be legally discriminated against in some states.
The primary goal of marriage is to give social recognition to couples who have a close relationship and who would wish to spend their lives together. Denying same sex couples the right to enter this institute is therefore a form of discrimination.
This discrimination denies gay and lesbian couples of their right to enjoy fulfilling lives with their partners. Culhane demonstrates that affording same-sex couples the right to marry is not a special treatment but an issue of fairness and equality and for a pro-democracy nation like the US, such a move should be natural (486).
Marriage has some tangible benefits that are acquired by couples who join this institute. Lack of legal recognition of same-sex marriages results in gay and lesbian couples not being able to enjoy these benefits that are a part of the marriage institute (Bell 195).
Most opponents of gay marriages assert that they respect the rights of homosexuals and are opposed to discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. However, denying marriage rights to gay couples is discrimination. Gay rights activists argue that if marriage rights are fundamental for some (heterosexual couples) then they should be fundamental for all.
Discussion
Gay rights activists have placed their hope for redress and justice in the mainstream Democratic Parties in our country. However, this move has not yielded major benefits since the government has mostly been complacent in the tribulations that face the gay population.
While the government has constantly stated that it is neutral on the issue of gay rights and does not support anti-gay movements, it has been slow to take proactive measures to ensure that gay members of the community are protected from harassment by people who hold anti-gay sentiments.
Our constitution is enshrouded in the principles of protection of equality and fundamental rights of all citizens regardless of their age, sex, creed, or sexual orientation.
If our country is truly committed to equal rights, then legalizing same-sex marriages should be made a reality. Recognition of same-sex marriage is a fundamental goal if there is to be true equality between same-sex and opposite-sex union (Alvare 351). So long as same-sex marriages are not accepted all over the US, heterosexual unions will always be regarded as superior to homosexual unions.
Way Forward
Gay rights advocates have intensified their efforts to gain legal recognition for same-sex unions and while some successes have been achieved, they still faced strong resistance from social conservative groups. Davis suggests that these minority group need to enlist the backing of heterosexual couples in their fight for equal right (44).
By working as allies, heterosexuals and homosexuals can help to foster a changing attitudes towards gay and lesbians. Through these efforts, stereotypical views and prejudices can be identified and dealt with. Increased awareness leads to tolerance and respect for those who have different sexual orientations from ourselves.
As has been noted, there has been growing attempts to deny gay and lesbians their liberty and rights. In the US, many states have allowed religious sexual doctrine to dictate limits to the legal recognition of relationships (Denike 72). Gay right activists should therefore focus their energy in resisting such forces and they should fight for legislation and judicial outcomes that will promote equality and ensure that gay individuals can thrive in society.
There should also be a campaign to advocate for gay rights even if people do not agree with the gay lifestyle. While people are allowed to hold their own opinion regarding homosexuality, they should not be allowed to limit the freedoms of homosexual individuals on this basis. Truth and justice demands that full liberty be afforded to gays and all forms of discrimination must be abolished.
Conclusion
This paper has noted that while there have been significant achievements in the struggle for gay rights, there are still major obstacles to realizing full rights for this minority group. The most significant opposition comes from social conservative groups and religious organizations which are keen to ensure that gays do not achieve full equality with heterosexual couples.
This is against the concept of social justice which advocates for equality for all people. All citizens who endorse the concept of social justice should therefore support the enactment of policies that will give gay and lesbian people equal rights with the rest of the community and specifically legalize gay marriages.
Bibliography
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Culhane, John. “Marriage equality? First, justify marriage (if you can)”. Drexel University Law Review 1.2 (2009): 485-511. Web.
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Somerville, Margaret. The case against ‘same-sex marriage’. Montreal, Quebec: McGill Center for Medicine, Ethics and Law, 2003. Print.
Volokh, Eugene. “Same-Sex Marriage and Slippery Slopes”. Hofstra Law Review 33.1 (2005): 1155–1201. Web.
Wardle, Lynns. “A Response to the Conservative Case for Same-Sex Marriage: Same-Sex Marriage and the Tragedy of the Commons”. BYU Journal of Public Law 22.3 (2007): 441-474. Web.
The notion of social justice has become a buzzword recently, having been used so frequently in media that its mere mentioning tends to spark a wide range of emotions, from light confusion to strong irritation. 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 of crime and violence against vulnerable groups. “Finding Dawn,” a 2016 documentary, sheds light on the issue of missing indigenous women in Canada and the factors that define the slow pace of the investigation process.
The present-day situation that indigenous Canadian women face can be described as dire. Due to a combination of social prejudices and economic factors, a range of women belonging to the identified group face the threat of poverty and become a victim of a crime (NFB, 2016). In order to address the specified injustice, one will have to introduce changes to the social justice and, thus, alter the legal one by considering a variety of factors from social to economic to financial ones.
Safety for All or Restrictions for Everyone
In principle, the idea of promoting social justice on every level and in every facet of people’s lives sounds rather alluring. Due to the presence of persistent social stereotypes and prejudices, as significant number of population groups are prone to rather unfair treatment, ranging from negligence to bullying to social ostracism (Nelson, 2000). Therefore, introducing the tools that will allow avoiding or addressing the described concerns is essential.
However, the proposed solution makes one posit whether the active provision of support to vulnerable groups in the form of inhibiting specific types of interactions and communication patterns may become detrimental to others. The observed problem can also be located in the management of the difficulties encountered by other vulnerable groups. In fact, the described issues intersect in the area that is related to the public image of the specified populations and the ostensible differences that lie between them and the rest of the community (Johnston, 2016). Although aa’s claim is supposed to reflect upon the hardships faced by the representatives of the transgender community, it also applies to indigenous women and other groups that experience the weight of social prejudices.
The Other Side of Social Justice
However, the described approach toward interpreting the notion of social justice begs the question whether the very existence of the specified notion is viable. Specifically, the stance that the society currently adopts toward the dilemmas associated with the satisfaction of diverse groups’ needs leaves much to be desired, according to Davis (2014). Specifically, Davis (2014) makes the following statement: “The sex-classification schemes they employ are not just rationally, but also “substantially” related to legitimate and “important” governmental goal” (p. 46). While pointing to a different roster of social problems, the author renders the futility of appealing to the societal interpretation of problematic issues and the appeal to social values.
Therefore, the idea of reinforcing the social support for a particular group of people has to be aligned with securing the rights of other people whose rights may be infringed in the process. Similarly, the enhancement o the principles of social justice has to be geared toward all members of a certain social stratum. As “Finding Dawn” exemplifies, even with the further enhancement of the feminist movement and a more active fight for women’s rights, indigenous women in Canada continue to suffer and experience grave injustice. When locating the major flaw in the current concept of social justice and the reasons for the seemingly sensible plight for women’s rights to fail, one should mention the failure to disentangle the intricate socioeconomic and sociocultural factors that affect different groups of women.
The presence of racialization in the contemporary culture is another factor that contributes vastly to the mismanagement of the needs of vulnerable groups and exposing then to the factors that aggravate their situation. Specifically, because of the enhancement of racialization and the promotion of the associated line of thinking, most of the problems that the target group encounters in the modern society fall into obscurity. Furthermore, the enhancement of racialization leads to dehumanizing target groups, thus making them the object of social contempt and demotivating the rest of the community to extend the effort of assisting them. According to Carr and Haynes (2015), the problem of racialization is explicitly visible when considering the attitudes toward Muslim people in the Western society: “Across Western nations, public and institutional discourses and practices are infused with strikingly similar motifs of threat to nation and civilization” (p., 22).
While in the example above, the process of racialization and the following dehumanization of a large group of people are fueled by fear, the problem of criminally low enthusiasm in addressing the disappearance of numerous indigenous Canadian women is driven by indifference (NFB, 2016). Socioeconomic and sociocultural factors make the specified group of people invisible to the rest of the Canadian community, reducing any chances for violence toward the specified population to ever be addressed.
Solution
With the idea of focusing on culture-specific needs in mind, one may suggest that the solution to the problem of negligence toward the plight of indigenous omen, as well as any other vulnerable group, lies in channeling efforts in the right direction and using the available media outlets. Creating branches within the general feminist movement to pay particular attention to the needs of indigenous women in Canada and addressing local sociocultural and socioeconomic factors is only the first step toward improving the situation. In addition, it is critical to introduce cohesion and unity to the movement and consider the premises based on which the contemporary concept of social justice in regard to the needs of indigenous Canadian women lies.
However, it would be an understatement to claim that resolving the criminally low concern for the well-being of indigenous Canadian women and other vulnerable groups, in general, is a multifaceted issue. The solution for the problem described in “Finding Dawn” implies the necessity to shape the social justice standards by influencing the representation of indigenous Canadian women in modern media, affecting their economic well-being, an d providing them with social and political agency (NFB, 2016). The combination of the specified measures along with the rise in awareness within the target community will make the problem evident to the rest of the Canadian residents. Therefore, shaping the notion of social justice by encouraging a change in the current perception of indigenous women, which includes their portrayal in media an a profound understanding of the sociocultural and socioeconomic issues that they face.
Addressing the problem of victimization of target groups is another step toward creating a safer environment for the people whose rights are often violated. The specified issue is often linked to the problem of drug addiction and the associated legal repercussions (NFB, 2016). By telling the stories of poverty and drug addiction among indigenous Canadian women that were provided with no support, “Finding Dawn” enders one of the greatest rifts between the contemporary criminal justice and social justice. Particularly, the perspective from which people with substance dependency are viewed through the prism of the law and the societal perspective are strikingly different. Herein lies the core problem that has to be managed on both social and legal levels. By shaping people’s opinion of addicts as people with health issues as opposed to criminals, one will be able to influence the legal system and introduce regulations for rehabilitating the specified demographic rather than punishing them (NFB, 2016). The resulting increase in the levels of well-being among vulnerable community members will allow handling the described concern.
At the same time, one should keep in mind that assuming a radical stance regarding the changes in the current justice system may affect other groups and their well-being. In the case under analysis, the managing problems faced by indigenous Canadian women by redirecting the efforts of the Canadian police from assisting other women that face violence and abuse will also leave a negative mark on the social dynamics. Put differently, it is critical to manage the problem of violence and abuse aimed toward women, in general, at the same time paying specifically close attention to the groups that are predisposed to the threat thereof economically, culturally, or based on any other set of factors. Davis (2014) states that the problem of gender-related judgments has to be handled on multiple levels, the issues of race or social status being the key contributors to the development of the threat:
Because gender perception is never race or class neutral, the subjective administration of sex-classification policies always raises the specter of intersectional gender judgments that are also irrelevant to legitimate policy goals, no matter their content or moral valence. (p. 46)
Therefore, the problem of handling the concerns raised in “Finding Dawn” is intertwined with the management of the issues associated with class conflicts and economic inequalities. The social stigma that indigenous women and other groups that are marginalized by the rest of the society carry affects the perception f the specified populations and their problems by the rest of the community, diminishing the challenges that the specified groups encounter. Therefore, changing the present-day perception of the target demographic among community members is the first step toward managing the problem of violence and addressing the concern of gender inequality.
The problem of social stigma affects a range of communities, indigenous Canadian women not being the only one. For example, the impact of social [prejudices and the misrepresentation in media has a direct and detrimental impact on the well-being and social acceptance of transgender people (NFB, 2016). The unwillingness to understand the plight of vulnerable groups leads to a drastic drop in the levels of empathy within communities, thus exposing groups in question to an even greater threat.
At the same time, it is critical to encourage activism and the levels of agency among the target population, encouraging people to shape the notion of social justice. The lack of police involvement, in turn, has to be addressed on a statewide level and managed as a legal issue. However, the alterations to the existing justice system and the framework for managing gender issues as they pertain to the needs of indigenous Canadian women have to start on a social level before the principles of social justice are transferred to the realm of the criminal one.
Thus, alterations to the current principles of social justice have to be introduced immediately. With a change in the representation of indigenous Canadian women in modern media, a shift in the social paradigm will be observed, with the process of dehumanizing the specified group being prevented. In turn, the transformation of the social justice principles will eventually lead to alterations in the criminal justice environment, compelling legal authorities to focus on the problem of crime and violence toward indigenous Canadian women. It is believed that, with the promotion of the principles of equity and equality, as well as the enhancement of empathy as the basis for social interactions, one will promote a shift in the social justice principles, in general. Thus, the needs an of other vulnerable groups will also be met, and the threats reducing the quality of their lives being removed from the social environment.
It is expected that the proposed change will cause a shift in the social relationships. Apart from addressing the problem of racism and the negative attitudes toward indigenous Canadian women, the specified stance will provide insightful solutions to other considers. For example, the reverse problem of xenophobia can be managed with the application of the principles of social justice powered by the concepts of equity and equality (NFB, 2016). According to NFB, the modern society is plagued by rampant xenophobia fueled by the strenuous political relationships and misconceptions occurring during a cross-cultural dialogue (NFB, 2016). The integration of the approach toward communication based on the unceasing learning and viewing cross-cultural communication as an educational opportunity, in turn, will allow changing the current situation. In a similar way, gender issues, which are also linked directly to the case under analysis, will be managed more effectively. For instance, the concerns associated with high levels of transphobia in the modern society will be handled more effectively (NFB, 2016). Thus, a gradual shift in people’s perceptions of social justice will occur.
However, so far, social justice has been failing the target population due to the lack of focus on sociocultural, economic, and political factors that affect the situation in which indigenous Canadian women find themselves. The stigma of poverty and the general representation of the indigenous Canadian culture in the modern media ha stake its toll on the current situation, reducing the probability for the specified group to avoid being involved in a criminal case and becoming a victim (Duffy & Mandell, 2005). Therefore, the levels of social security, opportunities for health management, provision of financial options, and other alterations have to be integrated into the contemporary Canadian society to ensure that vulnerable groups receive proper support.
Conclusion
Despite having become a generation-defining notion for the modern world, the concept of social justice as it is perceived nowadays requires further contemplations and changes. It is critical to take the needs of all vulnerable groups into consideration in order to create the setting where all parties could exercise their rights. The specified phenomenon is explained by the presence of social stereotypes that obstruct people’s perception of the problem of violence toward indigenous Canadian women. Linked intrinsically to the dehumanization of the specified population and its condescending portrayal in modern media, the specified philosophy affects the levels of crime and violence aimed against indigenous Canadian women, causing the number of victims among the specified demographic to spiral out of control.
Therefore, the change in the current legal standards for ensuring safety of indigenous Canadian women should start with the alterations in the social perspective and the shift in the perception of the image of indigenous women. The specified change also implies a different interpretation of gender roles within the specified society and a shift in the balance of powers in the specified relationships. It will be crucial to introduce the principles of equity and equality into the process of communication between Canadian citizens and the representatives of the indigenous Canadian culture. The changes in the social balance of powers will ultimately lead to improving the legal standards and making the issues that threaten the lives of indigenous Canadian women a reason for a legitimate concern. Thus, the principles of the social justice will affect the quality of women’s lives, reducing the threats of violence and abuse aimed toward them. The change in perception will become possible as soon as all factors affecting the current perception of indigenous Canadian women are taken into account, including gender-related ones, as well as social, economic, and cultural stereotypes.
References
Carr, J., & Haynes, A. (2015). A clash of racializations: The policing of ‘race’ and of anti-Muslim racism in Ireland. Critical Sociology, 41(1), 21-40. Web.
Duffy, A., & Mandell, N. (2000). The growth in poverty and social inequality: losing faith in social justice. In D. Glenday, & A. Duffy (eds), Inequality in Canada: A reader on the intersections of gender, race, and class (pp. 251-265). Oxford: OUP.
Davis, H. F. (2014). Sex-classification policies as transgender discrimination: An intersectional critique. Perspectives on Politics, 12(1), 45-60. Web.
Johnston, M. S. (2016). ‘Until that magical day… no campus is safe’: Reflections on how transgender students experience gender and stigma on campus. Reflective Practice, 17(2), 143-158. Web.
Nelson, J. J. (2000). The space of Africville: Creating, regulating and remembering the urban ‘slum’. Canadian Journal of Law & Society/La Revue Canadienne Droit et Société, 15(2), 163-185. Canadian Journal of Law and Society / La Revue Canadienne Droit et Société, 15(2), Web.
Black Lives Matter protests of 2016, which stirred the whole nation, reignited mainstream media interest for the movement and started a discourse on race and police violence on Twitter and other social media platforms (Rickford; Carney 181). Even though all lives matter, one cannot ignore social issues that declaratively make the tragic deaths of African-Americans in police shootings a systemic problem. This paper aims to discuss policing practices in America and how they relate to the issues of social justice.
Discussion
The inspirational and reaffirming Twitter hashtag, #BlackLivesMatter has emerged as a response to the status quo that has crippled racial justice proponents in their struggle against police misconduct. Philando Castile’s case is a perfect example of what Leovy refers to as the ghetto side (3). Castile was a 32-year-old African-American male who was fatally shot by a police officer Jeronimo Yanez during a traffic stop (Berman). Despite fury and outrage that swept across the country as a response to the incident, the officer was acquitted of all charges. Sadly, it is not a single case of police brutality; rather, police-involved shootings have turned into a tragic trend. According to Leovy, even though African-American males represent only 6 percent of the US population, “nearly 40 percent of those murdered” (14).
The Identity Compass exercise has helped me to understand that having been raised in a middle-class family, I am an extremely privileged individual who is not capable of relating to the daily struggles of less-fortunate people. That is why I try to pay as much attention to minority victim cases as possible. Also, my Muslim identity, which is framed by global developments, is often perceived by prejudiced people as a threat. Therefore, I am especially interested in the promotion of the social movement, Black Lives Matter, that represents a struggle for saving the lives and dignity of a traditionally marginalized group in the US—African Americans.
The Ta-Nehisi Coates video on police violence shows that African-American communities live in perpetual fear for the safety of their children. The writer featured in the video states that given that police who are being paid to protect people often inflict lethal harm upon African-Americans, “the threat of violence is always there” (“Ta-Nehisi Coates”). Ta-Nehisi Coates tells a story of his friend, Prince Jones, who has been shot and killed by the Prince George’s County police. The writer reveals that he has been incapable of distancing himself from the horrific incident, which shows that fear is a part of the African-American experience (“Ta-Nehisi Coates”).
It can be argued that #BlackLivesMatter campaign on Twitter helps to promote awareness around issues of 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. This new public sphere has helped to engage many people in the discussion of police brutality as well as organize protests. It is extremely important since even the least privileged members of American society have been able to use Twitter to oppose many issues associated with structural inequality.
Conclusion
The paper has helped me to better understand the daily struggles of African-Americans who have to live in perpetual fear for the safety of their children and close ones. I have also realized that the Black Lives Matter campaign is a response to systematic police brutality that has claimed the lives of many people of color.
Works Cited
Berman, Mark. “Minn. Officer Acquitted in Shooting of Philando Castile During Traffic Stop, Dismissed from Police Force.” The Washington Post.
Carney, Nikita. “All Lives Matter, but so Does Race: Black Lives Matter and the Evolving Role of Social Media.” Humanity & Society, vol. 40, no. 2, 2016, pp. 180-199.
Leovy, Jill. Ghettoside: A True Story of Murder in America. Spiegel & Grau, 2015.
Rickford, Russell. “Black Lives Matter: Toward a Modern Practice of Mass Struggle.” New Labor Forum, vol. 25, no. 1, 2016, pp. 34-42.