Writing for Justice and the Public

Your second writing project of the semester is called ‘Writing for Social Justice.’ I know what some of you are thinking:

I get it. The term ‘social justice’ has taken on a different meaning/connotation for some people. But this assignment isn’t about being ‘woke’ – it’s about choosing a topic that matters (at least to you) and has some public significance. If the term itself bothers you, call it something else in your head, I won’t mind.

Let’s get into the specifics:

OK. So, what does that mean in simpler terms? It means that you’re going to be choosing a ‘social justice’ topic that you care about – probably one that directly impacts/impacted you – and through a step-by-step process, you’re going to investigate (research) it, write about it, and make a case for some sort of change or solution.

But what is a social justice topic? Or, really, the better question might be ‘what is social justice’?

According to the United Nations, social justice is “the fair and compassionate distribution of the fruits of economic growth.” In an article in the journal Human Development, social justice was described as referring to “promoting fairness, equality, equity, and rights across multiple aspects of society, including economic, educational, and workforce opportunities.” And the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) defined it like this:

Social justice is the belief that everyone deserves equal rights, opportunities, and treatment regardless of their race, economic status, sexuality, or gender identity (Dolan-Reilly, 2013). Social justice must be considered in the context of historical systemic inequities in America’s social, economic, and political systems, and the long-term generational consequences of systemic injustice.

Those are broad definitions that serve to give you a sense of the scope of what social justice has come to be about in our society. For our purposes, I’m going to give you some options to help you narrow this huge topic down (a little bit):

Notice that the heading says ‘might go’. There are certainly other possibilities and other ways you might choose to approach this project. Social justice is such a broad topic that it would be difficult, if not impossible for me to list all the possible directions you might go. But there are some specific requirements you will need to meet.

Those requirements aren’t really restrictions in terms of the topic you choose, as social justice is a massive and wide-ranging umbrella that covers a lot of things. For example, the NASW cited a 2020 report from Yeshiva University that “identified nine priority social justice issues for social workers” including voting rights, healthcare, refugee crisis, and hunger and food insecurity.

And here we are six years later and all of those topics are more relevant than ever.

The first step of the project is going to be determining what issue you want to work on, but that’s only the beginning of a long process. The list of requirements and the thought of going public with your writing can be intimidating or overwhelming. But we will work through each step and slowly build a piece of writing that does justice (no pun, intended) to your topic and your contribution to the conversation around it.