scholarly journals Perpetuating Oppression: Does the Current Counseling Discourse Neutralize Social Action?

2012 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 18-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arie T. Greenleaf ◽  
Rhonda M. Bryant

The counseling profession, by virtue of research, dialogue, and the evolution of professional ideology, continues to uphold the viewpoint that psychological distress and disorders emanate from innate or biologically based factors. Consequently, the social reality that counseling partially defines through this discourse may inadvertently constrain the very movement that can most affect change through social action and engagement. Counseling professionals may unwittingly undercut attempts by oppressed individuals, groups, and their allies to create a more equitable and just society through civil disobedience and concerted social action. This article discusses how the current discourse on social justice may neutralize social action by reviewing discourse theory and presentation of a case study that offers strategies to operational discourse theory and support social action and engagement.

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 230-246 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jenna C. Ashton

Focusing on the activist exhibition The Mothers of Tiananmen (2019), this article examines my methodology of curating for social action and justice using international collaboration and participatory arts-as-research. The exhibition responded to the ongoing campaign for justice for the victims and survivors of the Tiananmen Square Massacre, as well as sought to support women’s creative resistance and voice. The Mothers of Tiananmen was co-created with artist Mei Yuk Wong, the 64 Museum (Hong Kong), and artists participating in the Centre for International Women Artists (Manchester). The context for the exhibition is the city of Manchester, which has one of the highest Chinese populations in England, along with a diverse international demographic with over 200 languages spoken. Through this case study, curating is presented as a creative and critical tool by which to respond to the range of justice and activist concerns of international and diasporic communities.


Author(s):  
Guntram H. Herb

Geographers have not been prominent in studying peace movements. This is not surprising, given the strong foundations of the discipline in warfare and imperialism. To date, the only general geographic survey of peace movements appears to be Brunn’s 1985 study, a catalog of peace organizations and their activities that covered mainly the United States. Other studies by geographers are few and focus on individual antiwar campaigns or disarmament strategies. However, more recently, geographers have made significant contributions to the analysis of the broader theoretical context of peace movements. These works offer spatial conceptualizations of social movement mobilization. A general appraisal of the geographic dimensions of peace movements is still missing. This chapter represents a tentative step in this direction. The examination is conducted in four steps. The first section deals with general characteristics of peace movements. It discusses problems of definition and presents the intellectual and philosophical foundations of peace activities. The second section approaches the geography of peace movements from a historical perspective. It examines the development of organized peace groups from their origins in the nineteenth century to the present. Different scales of the changing geopolitical and societal contexts will frame the discussion. Such a geohistory will allow us to identify and interpret changing intensities of activism. The third section addresses the geography of contemporary peace movements from a conceptual viewpoint. Armed with theoretical concepts from the recent literature on social movements, it examines the places and spaces of mobilization. The 1980s peace movement against nuclear armaments will serve as a case study to illustrate the insights that can be gained from a geographic approach. Finally, I will present the major implications that stem from the geohistorical and conceptual discussions in the conclusion. Peace is more than the absence of war. Though it is traditionally defined as the opposite of war, peace scholars and activists now embrace a notion of peace that includes the conditions necessary to bring about a nonviolent and just society at all levels of human activity. Contemporary peace movements not only seek to abolish the overt violence of war, but also struggle to transform the social structures responsible for death and human suffering.


2017 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 3-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vaughan Milner

This article explores the perspective that we live in communion with one another and that social justice and interdependence stem from compassion. One aspect of compassion is the notion of interdependence and being passionately moved by others and for others. Embracing community development and social capital theory engages practitioners with compassion in social action. Social isolation, social exclusion and the fragmentation of community social support networks are hidden challenges to social justice. More sustained attention can be paid to the ways social workers could and should link people to others who will remain in the clients’ lives long after the professionals have moved on. The argument is advanced that it is critical for more action in the rekindling of community and the linking of people to others – compassion reflects the grace of relationships that comes from authentic connection between people. The social justice challenge laid out is to promote social inclusion and interdependence and nurture the common life through engaging with those around our clients and us.


Author(s):  
Sergey N. Smolnikov ◽  

The article considers the place of social justice in modern law. Various aspects are noted: its relationship with the social state, legal state, civilizational particularities, historical features. The question of the significance of choice between the legality and legitimacy of power as a factor in the establishment of social justice is considered. The article raises the issue of the subject-object essence of social justice. It provides a comparison of two approaches to social justice in modern Russia — liberal and conservative, and notes the contradictory nature of both. Attention is drawn to the role of elites, the intelligentsia and the people in the embodiment of the liberal project. The author reveals the historical and civilizational prerequisites for the conservative project domination, its being in demand on the part of both the authorities and significant segments of the population, and its correspondence to the historical moment. The similarity of the conservative response to the challenges facing the society in the United States, Japan, Britain and Russia is substantiated. A sociological comparison of positions on the issues of law as social justice in the West and in Russia is given. There is an increasing divergence in understanding social justice both in the countries of the West (destruction of the social contract, welfare state) and between the West and the rest of the world. The theme of justice is increasingly playing a role in causing mutual claims rather than in stabilizing and maintaining international and civil peace. The paper considers attempts to create domestic models of a just society. Social justice is regarded as a projective concept and presupposes the existence of models of the expected and ideal future of society. The world trend towards change in the ideas of the subject of law and of the paradigm shift from liberalism to transhumanism is noted. It is argued that it is impossible to identify law with social justice.


Author(s):  
Nicholas K. Rademacher

As department chair, Furfey integrated social justice into the curriculum of the Department of Sociology, analysing scientific research data according to Christian analysis. In this period, Furfey began to interpret the Christian tradition in language approximating non-violent class struggle and sought alternative social reform strategies where spirituality and science would intersect. He cultivated the social and political interests of his students. According to his “Catholic Social Manifesto,” his department would now favor personalistic social action guided by divine grace over political action guided by human prudence. He and his colleauges would pursue nonviolent activism, grounded in love, to promote social change. Nevertheless, they would continue to pursue rigorous scientific research and approach their social justice reform according to the latest standards. Furfey and his colleagues Mary Elizabeth Walsh and Gladys Sellew launched Il Poverello House and later Fides House to explore the intersection of a theologically-informed spirituality with contemporary sociology and social work.


2010 ◽  
Vol 41 (113) ◽  
pp. 59
Author(s):  
Grimaldo Carneiro Zachariadhes

O presente artigo pretende abordar a importância que o apostolado social começou a ter para a Companhia de Jesus, especialmente a latino-americana, na conjuntura do Pós-2ª Guerra Mundial. Será analisada a criação dos Centros de Investigação e Ação Social (CIAS) como uma melhor forma de exercer este apostolado. O artigo será finalizado com a promulgação do decreto 4°, em 1975, pela Congregação Geral XXXII, quando a Companhia de Jesus oficializará a luta pela Justiça Social como uma missão de todos os jesuítas.ABSTRACT: This article intends to analyze the importance that the Social apostolate began to have for Society of Jesus, especially in Latin America, in the conjuncture after Second World War. It will be analyzed the creation of the Centers of Investigation and Social Action as a better form of exercising this apostolate. The article will be concluded with the promulgation of the ordinance 4°, in 1975, for the General Congregation XXXII, when Society of Jesus will make official the fight for the Social Justice as a mission of all the Jesuits.


2019 ◽  
Vol 2018 (1) ◽  
pp. 318
Author(s):  
Ayumi Inako

What can a reading classroom provide for advanced English learners beyond input into grammar and vocabulary? The author proposes a focus on field—the nature of the social action realized in the text—as well as using the scale of semantic gravity—the degree to which the meanings of the text relate to its context. Many reading materials contain multiple fields, which can cause difficulty for students in tracking their content. A case study of a text on the topic of solar storms employs the methodology of Legitimation Code Theory (LCT), whereby an external language for description is created for the specific research purpose. Analysis from the perspective of semantic gravity helps identify where shifts in the field of the text occur, enabling the teacher to guide the students in their reading as the text unfolds. The author concludes by discussing the applicability of this method. 上級英語学習者向けの読解授業が文法と語彙のインプット以外に提供できるものは何だろうか。本稿では、テクストによって具現化される社会的活動の性質を表す活動領域(field)に焦点を当てるとともに、テクストの意味が分脈と関係する度合いを示す意味的重力(semantic gravity)の概念を使用することを提案する。多くの読解教材には複数の活動領域が含まれ、学習者にとって内容の把握が難しくなる要因となっている。このケーススタディでは、「太陽嵐」に関する読解テキストを取り上げ、正当化コード理論(Legitimation Code Theory—LCT)の方法論に基づいて、本研究に特定の目的に合わせた外的記述言語(external language of description)を作成する。分析によって、意味的重力の観点がテキストの展開とともに活動領域の移行が起きている場所の特定に役立つことが明らかになる。結論として、この方法の応用可能性を議論する。


2005 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robina Goodlad ◽  
Sheila Riddell

In the 1970s and early 1980s, discussions of social justice in the social science literature focused largely on social class. The implicit assumption of much of the literature was that a more just society would be achieved through the reduction of inequalities in the distribution of economic and social resources. Since then, there has been a growing focus on plural aspects of social justice. Many writers now distinguish between distributive, cultural and associational aspects of social justice. However, the different implications of these facets of social justice for different groups, and potential tensions between them, have rarely been adequately recognised. Given New Labour's focus on social justice, and its belief that attaining greater social justice is compatible with achieving greater efficiency in the public sector, there is a need to examine more closely the understandings of social justice underpinning a range of policy initiatives.


Author(s):  
Alan Ryan

This chapter examines the impact of John Rawls's A Theory of Justice on the liberal audience that took it up. In A Theory of Justice, Rawls offers a defense of civil disobedience that would make politically motivated disobedience a much more acceptable part of our political life than either the U.S. Supreme Court or the English judiciary seems likely to contemplate. Furthermore, his views about the subservience of economic institutions to “social justice” place him firmly on one side of what is currently the most fiercely contested dividing line in politics in Britain today. The chapter also considers Rawls's use of the theory of the social contract to support his arguments; his principle of “the priority of liberty”; and his “difference principle.” It asserts that Rawls is safe from those critics who maintain that what purports to be a defense of liberalism actually collapses into a wholesale collectivism.


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