The Problem of Social Justice: Global Perspectives and Personal Narratives

Written by Sharanya DG 

The Problem of Social Justice: Global Perspectives and Personal Narratives

“Social justice is the virtue which guides us in creating those organized human interactions we call institutions. In turn, social institutions, when justly organized, provide us with access to what is good for the person, both individually and in our associations with others. Social justice also imposes on each of us a personal responsibility to work with others to design and continually perfect our institutions as tools for personal and social development.”

– The Center for Economic and Social Justice (CESJ), Washington, D.C., USA

This special issue of LLIDS seeks to initiate a global dialogue on Social Justice (SJ). While considerations of economy undergird SJ theory, its discourse reaches beyond economics to address inequalities of access, privilege, and rights. As an academic discipline, SJ theory embraces a range of critical theories and methods: colonialist criticism, critical race theory, gender criticism, and queer theory among other methods fall under its purview. For SJ theory offers to critique the institutions—social, political, economic—that sustain inequalities of access, privilege, opportunity, and rights generally. As a social praxis, SJ theory aims to deinstitutionalize systematic inequality by means of progressive public policy. Indeed, treating equal access and opportunity as matters of social “justice” necessarily entails law and policy. SJ theory seeks to protect and expand rights of individuals and communities. In concert with posthumanism and ecocriticism, SJ theory extends this same protection to the planet and to our many “companion species” whose survival is threatened by climate change and environmental degradation.

As a mode of advocacy, SJ describes a “theory of practice” which, at its best, aspires to give voice to all communities worldwide while affirming that the rights and restraints, aspirations and anxieties of each community are its own to declare. Each community’s unique understanding of Social Justice is reflected in its stories; in privileging individual experience and personal narrative, the SJ advocate must learn to lay aside all prior assumptions of what constitutes “justice” within diverse realms of “the social.” We ask authors to explore the praxis of SJ discourse across varied narratives of ethos and ethics. We invite analyses of SJ rhetoric and of its successes—as well as failures—in effecting public policy. As a vital aspect of SJ rhetoric, the positionality of its participants—its advocates, critics, and policy makers—deserves careful study.

We don’t need Foucault to remind us that knowledge, indeed, is power. As a first step in deinstitutionalizing inequality, we must closely inspect the platforms for the creation and dissemination of knowledge systems globally. Though a growing awareness of social disparities has led to some technology-driven policy shifts, such as an increasing inclusion of “Open Access” within education systems, there is still a need to decolonialize the hubs of knowledge creation. As with knowledge, so with health: A similar critique has been made of the polarization of western medicine vs. indigenous medicinal practices. The discourse of Medical Humanities re-emphasizes racial, gender, and economic disparities which affect patient narratives and equitable access to care. Further examples come to mind. The colonialist legacy is itself a deep chasm separating the SJ discourse of the Global South vs. the Global North. Let us take this special issue as an occasion to pause and ask, reflectively: What are the contours and coordinates of Social Justice? Which paths lie ahead in forging a socially just world?

Such is the starting point for a special issue on Social Justice, which invites submissions that reflect on, analyze, expand on, and complicate SJ theory and its implications. As an international interdisciplinary journal, LLIDS seeks to involve authors and audiences globally in exploring this timely issue. A series of questions and propositions follow apropos to this topic.

  • How does SJ theory understand itself as an ideology or ideological behavior?
  • How is SJ theory taught? What is its curriculum? What are its paths of resistance?
  • In the classroom, in scholarship, and in public/political discourse, what does SJ theory enable or make visible? What does it leave unseen or unspoken? What are its “blind spots”?
  • How can SJ theory address the political-economic crisis of the 1% against the 99%?
  • Can Social Justice have the same meaning and application/implication for all communities, charting both the Global North and the Global South?
  • As per the U.N. declaration, Social Justice seeks a “fair and compassionate distribution” of wealth. This remains a noble aim and aspiration. And given the deep entrenchment of global capitalism, is it viable?
  • How can SJ advocates claim to speak “on behalf” of a community unless/until its members have spoken and been heard? Is advocacy earned through listening? (Is SJ theory a mode of “listening rhetoric”? Can/should it become one?)
  • What can SJ advocates learn from the social methods of Engaged Theory, Grounded Theory, and the Bourdieusian Theory of Practice?

Submission Process:

Submission Criteria Checklist:

  • Only complete papers along with a 150 words abstract, list of keywords, and Works Cited will be considered for publication.
  • Word limit for submissions (excluding Title, Abstract, Keywords, Footnotes, and Works Cited list): 3,500–10,000 words
  • The papers need to be formatted according to the guidelines of the MLA 8th edition.
  • Please read the complete submission guidelines before making the submission – http://ellids.com/author-guidelines/submission-guidelines/.
  • LLIDS has a Zero plagiarism policy. The Similarity Index of the submissions (Quote percentage) needs to be under 20%, unless absolutely required by the research. The similarity index is a calculation of the percentage of quotes from the word count (excluding title, abstract, keywords, footnote, works cited list).

Submission deadline: 15th March, 2025

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