Global social justice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Global social justice - Essay Example When one comes to exactly defining what is meant by ‘social justice’ and deciding what means should be used to achieve the objective of greater social justice, however, it soon becomes apparent that there are many different perspectives on the subject and no clear consensus can be found. Even such self-evidently useful work such as emergency relief in disaster areas, and various kinds of humanitarian interventions in economically weaker areas by charity organisations, can be challenged on the grounds that these activities can have as many bad effects as good effects, and they very often it deal with short term crises and exacerbate longer term problems. This paper traces the history of social (in)justice as a concept and defines different approaches to it. There follows an exploration of the potential for applying some of these approaches and definitions in the context of contemporary globalisation. The role of charity is considered, examining the ways that charity inter ventions influence different societies economically, politically and socially. Finally the potential of charity as a strategy in addressing global social (in)justice is evaluated, concluding that charity can and does have a role to play in addressing social (in)justice but that there are a number of common pitfalls that must be avoided, notably imperialist tendencies inherited from the past. The history of social (in)justice as a concept. ... Following Miller’s line of argument it is important to note that the main point of this kind of justice, as opposed to criminal or retributive justice, is that it looks forward to what can and should be done in society, rather than looking back at what has been done and trying to make amends for conflicts, harms and problems that have arisen in the past. If social justice has a backward facing side to it, then it is only in so far as it looks at apparent social injustice and seeks ways of removing or lessening this in favour of social justice. When western civilisations began to adopt an industrialised and urban style of living, new kinds of problems began to beset society. Poverty, overcrowding and huge differences between the owners of lands and businesses and those who struggled to make a living in them made it very obvious that the people who were doing most of the work were not receiving most of the rewards. Because of the inherent power differential between people, there was a tendency for the rich to get richer and the poor to get poorer. So it was that liberal businessmen began to set up housing, education, fair wages and other benefits for their workers. The idea was that providing basic commodities would free people up to take advantage of a wider range of opportunities in their lives. This paternalistic and utilitarian approach to social justice reigned throughout the Victorian period in Britain and great progress was made in setting down rules for the employment and remuneration of people. Thanks to this kind of intervention some of the worst and most exploitative of practices, including slavery and child labour were eventually abolished. In their place emerged compulsory