Week 4: Economic Justice and Social Responsibility

The economy is a key arena in which debates over social justice take place.  Who is entitled to what-- by what standard should economic distribution be evaluated?  Who decides what standard is to be used?  How should societies be organized, and what is a society’s responsibility toward those at the bottom of the economic ladder?  Cultural perspectives guide how societies are organized and what values are elevated above others; this has major implications for issues of economic justice. 

As many of your projects are exploring, economic liberalism is in question.  Does free market capitalism creates the most just society?  There are those who argue that it does (Friedman, and the Economist article for this week), while there are also critiques of this model coming from a variety of angles (Klein, Qutb, and Agnivesh this week). 

Max Weber’s The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism (wiki page here) posited that Protestant Christianity had much to do with the growth of capitalism in the West.   In many ways, then, capitalism can be viewed as a culture in and of itself.  It did not emerge out of nowhere, and is certainly bolstered by a number of ideologies that argue for individual achievement and freedom.  Capitalism currently enjoys dominance in the global economic system, but, of course, it comes with its own lot of issues.  Occupy movements around the globe are challenging the current economic system, and many religious and cultural voices have sought to question the status quo, particularly as it relates to the people who are least privileged by whatever economic system is dominant.  

The assignments for this week explore these issues from a variety of perspectives.  In reading, watching and examining these perspectives, pay close attention to how cultural values and norms underlie some of the arguments. 

Week 3: The Ethics of Life

This week, we are focusing on questions of justice as it’s related to life—what counts as life, when is it ok to take a life, who gets to make those decisions, and on what criteria are they made?  This broad theme spans a number of topics, but for this week I’ve decided to focus in on debates around war, abortion, and the environment (thinking about both human and non-human life forms).  These are three areas in particular where differing conceptions of the ethics of life come into prominence in public debates.

Debates on these issues goes back to the beginnings of many foundational religious and cultural teachings, as many religions, and other comprehensive conceptions of ethics, deal explicitly with questions of what life is and how we should treat it.  While certain things seem black and white enough ("Though shalt not murder" seems to span most moral traditions), the issue becomes quite murky in other circumstances (if capital punishment prevents deadly crimes, does it create more justice overall?  if war helps topple a dictator who brutally abuses his people, is it justified?  and so on...).  

For example, while "Just War Theory" stems from a traditionally Catholic line of thought, and the Catholic Church institutionally takes a strong stance against abortion and contraception, there are also self-described Catholics who object to warentirely and who argue for a pro-choice stance based on differing understandings of how one should determine justice when it comes to questions of life and rights.  This is an example of diversity within one tradition, and in the readings for this week, you'll see a broad span of approaches to these questions coming from within a variety of religious and cultural traditions.  

Justice Across Cultures- Week 2

Last week, we talked more abstractly/theoretically about how conceptions of social justice differ across different cultures, persons, times and geographical spaces.  In the next three weeks, we'll look at how these more theoretical debates manifest themselves when the rubber hits the road, so to speak.  This week we are exploring gender and sexuality from a variety of cultural perspectives.  This is an enormous topic, and therefore we will inevitably miss many important perspectives, but we will attempt to hit on some key areas through this week’s readings/viewings:  gender and gender roles, competing notions of feminism, and perspectives on and alternatives to dominant models of sexuality (including monogamy, hetero-normativity, etc.).  As usual, we will read/view some theoretical approaches as well as some current events or debates that highlight these challenges over what constitutes social justice in this arena.  Please focus on this general topic in your Tweets this week (which you are also encouraged to draw from in focusing your discussion board posts). 

Are gender and sexuality social constructions?  How do ideas about gender and sexuality play out in conceptualizing social justice in various contexts, and how do we (as in, people who care about justice on a global level) deal with these varying conceptions of gender justice and sexuality?  How does this fit in with the issue of universal and individual vs. collective rights that we were exploring last week?

One critical note I would like to emphasize is the fact that “cultures” and “religions” are not homogenous- in other words, there are a variety of opinions and perspectives contained within any cultural or religious framework.  Debates within cultures and religions are as important, and sometimes more significant, than debates between them, and so we must take care to remember this when talking about any cultural or religious approach to a question.  That said, different contexts have different tools and ways of approaching issues that people draw from, which is part of what we are examining here.   

Welcome to Justice Across Cultures! Week 1---

Welcome to Justice Across Cultures- I look forward to getting to know you all by talking about some complex issues over the next few weeks.  I am originally from Lexington, Kentucky, and I have spent time living in Egypt, Uganda, Denver, and now Washington, D.C.  

I am a doctoral candidate at DU, studying religion and global affairs, and I am currently writing my dissertation on the efficacy of religious engagement in peacebuilding processes in Lebanon, South Africa, and Bosnia-Herzegovina.  I also work as the Director of the Shoulder to Shoulder Campaign, based in D.C., which focuses on the challenge of anti-Muslim bigotry in the United States.  I work with a number of religious denominations and organizations in the US to collectively address this issue in upholding the American values of individual religious freedom and diversity.  Prior to moving to D.C., I was the Assistant Director of the Living and Learning Communities at DU, and I coordinated the Social Justice LLC for 4 years.  Thus, I come to this course with a number of diverse experiences and bring them all into the readings I assign and discussions I organize and participate in.

While Canvas is our main "hub" for assignments, readings, and discussion boards, our course blogs and Twitter will be an important piece of course communication as well.  I will write a weekly post to introduce some of the topics and questions (in lieu of "lecturing" on the readings) and you will be asked to use your blog for various assignments and responses throughout.

This week, we are seeking to unpack some of the terms and questions that we'll explore throughout the course:  What is justice?  What is culture?  And what are some of the "cultural" or religious clashes over justice in the world today? Our readings raise a few of the major questions and dichotomies that arise when dealing with issues of cultural or religious specificity (meaning, the values that seem to be specific to certain groups) and the issue of universal values, which are becoming increasingly important, but also increasingly debated, in our globalized world.

Culture and religion, while not equivalent, certainly overlap in important ways, as religious values and paradigms often inform the way certain societies configure notions of justice and social justice.  And yes, cultural and religious identities are in no way homogenous.  For instance, people who identify as Muslim have vastly different interpretations of what that means, and what it entails in terms of justice, across the globe.  In this class, we cannot possibly cover every perspective or issue, so we’re sticking to a few key ones, but please feel free to bring up other perspectives or issues that interest you (related to the theme, of course) through discussion forums, Twitter, and your blog. 

As I noted in the announcement this week, it is critical that you read the syllabus thoroughly and pay close attention to the structure and deadlines for the modules each week (which are explained in the bi-weekly announcements).  This is a 4-week, 4-credit class, all held online!  It’s intense!  Please be sure to keep up, as it will be very difficult to catch up.  Read thoroughly (the syllabus, the announcements, the modules/assignments), follow instructions, think critically, and you should be fine.