EDUCATION FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE Social justice as goal1

Full and equal participation of all groups in a society that is mutually shaped to meet their needs Vision of society in which the distribution of resources is equitable and all members are physically and psychologically safe and secure Society in which individuals are both self-determining (able to develop their full capacities) and interdependent (capable of interacting democratically with others) Social actors with sense of their own agency and sense of social responsibility toward others and society as a whole

Social justice as process:

Democracy Participation nclusion
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From" #dams$ %&$ 'ell$ (& #& ) *riffin$ P& (!++,)& Teaching for Diversity and Social Justice & -outledge" .ew /or0 ) (ondon

#ffirmation of human agency and human capacities for wor0ing collaboratively to create change

Features of oppressio
!& Pervasiveness 1 oppression is woven throughout social institutions as well as embedded within individual consciousness& 2ppression fuses institutional and systemic discrimination$ personal bias$ bigotry and social pre3udice in a comple4 web of relationship and structures that saturate most aspects of life in our society 5& -estricting 1 oppression denotes structural and material constraints that significantly shape a person6s life chances and sense of possibility& 2ppression restricts both self-development and self-determination 7& 8ierarchical 1 oppression signifies a hierarchical relationship in which dominant9privileged groups benefit$ often in unconscious ways$ from the disempowerment9subordinated9target groups :& ;omple4$ multiple$ cross-cutting relationships 1 power and privileges are relative$ since individuals hold multiple and crosscutting social groups memberships& For e4ample$ an upper class professional man who is national minority$ may en3oy economic opportunities not available for most women$ yet at the same time face limitations not endured by wor0ers who belong to national ma3ority (whether they are male or female)& <& nternali=ed 1 oppression resides not only in e4ternal social institutions$ but also within the human psyche as well

>& 2ppression is manifested through ? sms@ 1 each ? sm@ is different$ has its own history$ but the mechanisms through which they operate are the same9very similar

T!e Social Oppressio "atri#

Ahe ;onte4t
#) ndividual level Focus is on the beliefs or behaviors of an individual person$ rather than on institutional or cultural practices& Ahis level refers to actions or attitudes of individual that maintain oppression (harassment$ racial9ethnic9religious slurs$ e4clusion of targets$ etc)& #n individual agents is both affected by and has an effect on institutions" individuals are sociali=ed and guided by institutions that maintain and perpetuate oppressive structure and in turn$ individuals have an effect on the institutions and broader culture to the e4tent that they wor0$ consume$ teach and live the values of the dominant society9culture& ') nstitutional level Focus is on institutions that maintain and perpetuate system of oppression (family$ government$ education$ law$ industry$ religion$ etc) ;) Societal9;ultural level Society6s cultural norms perpetuate implicit and e4plicit values that bind institutions and individuals& n an oppressive society the cultural perspective of the dominant group is imposed on institutions by individuals and on individuals by institutions& Ahese cultural guidelines$ such as philosophies of life$ definitions of the good$ normal$ health$ deviance$ often serve the primary function of providing individuals and institutions with the 3ustification for social oppression& Ahis level is the foundation of all the ?isms@$ as well as the internali=ed oppression and internal domination&

.otion hegemony is used to describe how a dominant group can pro3ect its particular way of seeing reality so successfully that its view is accepted as common sense$ as part of natural order (internali=ed domination)$ even by those who are in fact disempowered by it (internali=ed oppression)& 8egemony helps us understand power as relational and dynamic$ something that circulates within a web of relationships in which we all participate$ rather than something imposed from top down& 8egemony is maintained through ?discourse@ which includes ideas$ te4ts$ theories$ and language& Ahese are embedded in networ0s of social and political control that Foucault called ?regimes of truth@& -egimes of truth operate to legitimi=e what can be said$ who has the authority to spea0$ and what is sanctioned as true& 2ppression operates through everyday practices that do not question the assumptions underlying institutional rules and the collective consequences of following those rules& 2ne important mechanism for challenging oppression$ according to Freire$ is to ma0e visible and vocal the underlying assumptions that produce and reproduce structures of domination so that we can collectively begin to imagine alternative possibilities to organi=e social life&

Ahe Psycho-Social Processes

Psycho-social processes describe the types of involvement to oneBs advocacy$ participation$ support or collusion in a system of social oppression& Ahese processes are conscious or unconscious #) ;onscious processes involve 0nowingly supporting the maintenance of social oppression through individual$ institutional and cultural9societal attributes& ') Cnconscious processes represent un0nowing or naive collusion with the maintenance of social oppression and occur when the target or agent comes to accept the dominant logic system and 3ustifies oppression as normal part of the natural order&

Ahe #pplication
#) #ttitudinal level describes the individual and systemic values$ beliefs$ philosophies and stereotypes that feed the system of oppression

') 'ehavioral level describes the actions of individual and systems that support and maintain social oppression (for e4ample$ different forms of e4clusion of marginali=ed groups$ racist behavior$ etc&)

Roles i t!e s$ste% of oppressio

Aargets - members of social identity group that are e4ploited$ victimi=ed$ marginali=ed in a variety of ways by the oppressor and the oppressor6s system of institutions #gents - members of dominant social groups privileged by birth or acquisition who 0nowingly$ or un0nowingly e4ploit and reap unfair advantage over members of target groups& Freire observes that a parado4 of social oppression is that agents are also dehumani=ed because they have engaged in a process of stealing the humanity of others& Freire notes that oppression is perpetuated from generation to generation as a new generations become its heirs and are shaped in its climate& #gents$ due to their power to define reality$ see themselves and are seen by others as normal or proper$ whereas targets are li0ely to be labeled as deviant$ abnormal$ or defective& Cnli0e targets$ agents are frequently unaware that they are members of a dominant group due to the privilege of being able to see themselves as persons rather than stereotypes& n this way$ agents are also sub3ected to psychological coloni=ation because$ once the oppressive structure are in place$ oppression becomes normali=ed and succeeding generation of agents learn to accept their inheritance of dominance and privilege as the natural order 1 the way things are and always will be&

Relatio s!ips &it!i a ' (et&ee t!e roles i t!e s$ste% of oppressio
#) nternali=ed oppression 1 targets collude with their oppressors by accepting a definition of themselves that is hurtful and limiting& Ahey

thin0$ feel and act in a way that demonstrate the devaluation of their group and of themselves as members of that group& Duesting the credentials or abilities of their own social group Favoring dominant group members and distancing (often unconsciously) from their own target group ') ;onscious collaboration 1 target group members 0nowingly$ but not always voluntarily$ go along with their own mistreatment to survive$ or to maintain some status$ livelihood$ or other benefit (for e4ample$ when a person of color silently endures racist 3o0es told by a boss) ;) nternali=ed domination 1 members of the dominant group learn to thin0 and act in ways that e4press internali=ed notions of entitlement and privilege& 'elief that privileges are part of natural order Power to impose their own values$ beliefs and norms as natural order Power to ?erase@ target group members by failing to ac0nowledge their e4istence or importance (fro e4ample$ historical presentation that ;olumbus discovered #merica$ erased the e4istence of native peoples who preceded him by several thousand years) D) Vertical interaction between target and agent Ahis can be viewed as one-up and one-down pattern and vertical relationship$ in which the agent operates out of internali=ed privilege$ in a manner oppressive to targets$ who simultaneously collude to some degree out of their own internali=ed subordination& Ahe agent is literally above$ or over the target$ denying the rights of the target$ while the target colludes with this oppression E) 8ori=ontal relationships Ahis term is used to reflect relationships and interactions between members of the same social group$ who$ at least on one dimension of social identity$ are ?equal@ in status& %ay ta0e two forms" Aarget 1 Aarget" Ahe conscious and9or unconscious attitudes and behaviors e4hibited in interactions between members of the same target group$ that support the system of oppression (for e4ample$ women who label other women for not conforming to se4-role defined behavior)

#gent 1 #gent" Ahe conscious and9or unconscious punishments that agents bestow on other agents who violate the ideology of the oppressive system (for e4ample$ teasing men who share equal responsibility for child care and household maintenance)& Ahis relationship also include conscious and9or unconscious rewards given to those who actively support or passively accept oppressive system&

Su(tle For%s of Oppressio )Is%s*

#) S/%'2( ; ? S%S@ 1 re3ect old-style ? sms@$ but still e4press pre3udice indirectly (e&g& as opposition to policies li0e affirmative action that help target groups) ') #%' V#(E.A ? S%S@ 1 e4istence of emotional conflict between positive and negative feelings toward stigmati=ed target group ;) %2DE-. ? S%S@ 1 people are aware that isms are wrong$ but they still see target groups as ma0ing unfair demands or receiving too many resources D) #VE-S VE ? S%S@ 1 People believe in egalitarian principles such as racial9gender equality$ but have a personal aversion toward those target groups

From .elson$ A& D& (5FF5)" The Psychology of Prejudice& (ondon" #llyn and 'acon