Playing for social equality

2018 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 427-446 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lasse Nielsen

This article claims that the protection of children’s capability for play is a central social-political goal. It provides the following three-premise argument in defense of this claim: (i) we have strong and wide-ranging normative reasons to be concerned with clusters of social deficiency; (ii) particular fertile functionings play a key role for tackling clusters of social deficiency; and finally (iii) the capability for childhood play is a crucial, ontogenetic prerequisite for the development of those particular fertile functionings. Thus, in so far as we consider it a central political goal to tackle social deficiency, we should be concerned with protection of childhood play capability. This conclusion raises new insights on the importance – for global development policy as well as for welfare states’ aim to secure social justice – of protecting children’s capability to engage in playful activities.

Author(s):  
Richard K. Ghere

This chapter focuses on the use of information technology (IT) in government and its possible impacton governance, particularly in terms of addressing the equity concerns of meeting the basic needs of regional subpopulations. In Building the Virtual State, Jane Fountain develops her theory of technology enactment (in essence, a variety of bureaucratic behaviors reacting to IT) and then applies that framework in three case studies in the book. This inquiry examines government IT enactment in various global settings to assess (1) where and how enactment occurs and (2) what, if any, effect enactment has upon governance in particular settings. The first section traces relationships between a nation’s IT development policy and that technology’s potential to promote equity in that society. The next two sections report (respectively) on the study and observations that emerge. A brief case study about the Gyandoot, an intranet system in rural India, examines the reality of e-government as a means to promote social equality. A concluding discussion reviews those observations as they relate to the human initiative in efforts to harness information technology to achieve public goals, especially those intended to improve social wellbeing in poor societies.


2003 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 490-498
Author(s):  
Otis B. Grant

2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 30-49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas Brunold

Abstract Since the nineties, the principle of sustainable development has increasingly been adopted by policy makers and civil society in Germany and, of course, in many countries of the world. With the acceptance of this principle, the significance of education for sustainable development (ESD) has also been recognised. Increased awareness of the problems of environmental challenges, globalisation and poverty has meant that the concepts of environmental education, global learning, and education in development policy have been consistently oriented towards more sustainability. This leads to an increased awareness that globalisation processes must be shaped in accordance with the objectives of sustainable development, both nationally and internationally. By encouraging the idea of sustainability to take root in all areas of education systems, the World Decade of Education for Sustainable Development from 2005 to 2014 intended to take significant steps towards greater educational sustainability. The curricula for civic education for sustainable development and global learning in Germany are, therefore of course, very closely linked to global development and globalisation processes, and because of that, they are to be seen within the mandate of the United Nations educational policy. The paper shows, that the learning area of global development objectives is structured in an inter-disciplinary and cross-disciplinary manner. It carries the essential features of a domain: a delimited object area, a specific approach to the world, and the reference to a basic teaching concept in the educational policy traditions of one-world or development-policy education and global learning. Therefore the aim is clear, that these curricula should contribute to the sustainable development goals of the United Nations, towards inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all, as it is mentioned in goal number 4 (United Nations, 2014).


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 34
Author(s):  
Xiao Zhang

English language teaching (ELT) plays a vital role in promoting social equality and societal transformation. Thus, social justice education has been given attention as one of ELT purposes. Textbooks, as the most significant teaching materials of English teachers, pose significant effects on English learners’ awareness of social justice issues that touch upon their daily lives. However, there is little empirical research investigating integrated social justice topics in ELT textbooks. This study addressed the gap through identifying and comparing social justice topics of grade 10 English textbooks used in Chinese and German high school classrooms. Results of this study revealed that German English textbooks encompassed a much more diversity of social justice topics than Chinese English textbooks. Besides, this study offered a significant capacity for English textbooks to stimulate English learners’ social responsibility and awareness of social justice. This study has implications for improving social justice education in the ELT classroom.


2010 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
pp. 580-593 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott Burris ◽  
Evan D. Anderson

A decade ago, Jonathan Mann made a powerful case that human rights could provide a vocabulary and mode of analysis for understanding and advancing health. He made the case well, and put the idea into inspired practice, but the idea was neither new nor his alone. The idea that social justice — and henceforth in this article we will use that term loosely (and with obvious imprecision) to embrace goods like human rights, social equality, and distributive justice — was intrinsically important to health resonated with the social epidemiology already gathering force (not to mention an enduring theme running through the history of public health work). That social structure and relations of power explain a great deal about the level and distribution of population health was implicit in the work of pioneers like Geoffrey Rose, evident in Marmot’s seminal Whitehall studies, explicit in the writings of Mervyn Susser, and the main thrust of scholars like Nancy Krieger and Meredeth Turshen. Although researchers tend to avoid using a term with such normative weight, it is safe to say that Mann — and Susser, and Marmot and Krieger among others — were right: social justice is central to the proper understanding of health.


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