Introduction to Lecture 2

This lecture considers the difficulty of conceiving a truly collective approach to individual and societal wellbeing in the context of currently dominant ways of thinking about social justice. Certainly, a great deal of resistance is formed in the shadow of the individualistic non-interventionist rhetoric that dominates contemporary political discourse on the conservative level. However, the difficulty in accepting a truly all-encompassing notion of justice – one that has more universal roots – is also found in a liberal rights-based, anti-discrimination sense of social justice. This approach focuses on the compelling need to respond to the legacies of historic injustices that affirmatively targeted generally ignored, or inequitably impacted, specific groups within society, and is decidedly different than that presented by the non-interventionists.

The dominant frame for progressive critics of governmental policies, rights-based anti-discrimination approaches echo an undeniable reality. The challenge, therefore, for those seeking a broader, more generally inclusive, notion of social justice, is to imagine an overall theoretical approach that can encompass and advance remedies for past failures and faults evidenced by discriminatory policies and practices while also serving as a foundational, universally applicable, and coherent theory arguing for the just treatment of all in society going forward.

This ambition to create an expansive notion of social justice seems particularly crucial. Today we inhabit a world of dynamic complexity, insecurity, and uncertainty unimaginable to the political actors who shaped foundational governing documents, such as the US Constitution during the eighteenth century.