SOCIAL JUSTICE

Prepared by:

IRENE ASTORGA BUCSIT, RSW

 Belief that
“All men are created equal…”

Based on race, age, sexual orientation, religion,

nationality, education, mental or physical ability
 HISTORY OF SOCIAL JUSTICE
• The concept of social justice can be traced through the theology of
Augustine of Hippo (AD 354) and philosophy of Thomas Paine (1737),
it was explicitly used in the 1780’s during the American Revolution

• It was inspired by the The Republic (1807) by Plato that says justice is
not mere strength, but it is a harmonious strength. Justice is not the
right to be stronger but the effective harmony of the whole. All moral
conceptions revolve about the good of the whole individual as well
social.
 Based on Thought:
EGALITARIANISM

• Relating to or believing in the principle that all people

are equal and deserve equal rights and opportunities
 DEFINITION OF SOCIAL JUSTICE

• Social justice is a concept of fair and just

relations between the individual and society.
This is measured by the explicit and tacit terms
for the distribution of wealth, opportunities for
personal activity, and social privileges.
 Definition by UN

“Social justice may be broadly understood as the fair

and compassionate distribution of the fruits of
economic growth. Social justice is not possible without
strong and coherent redistributive policies conceived
and implemented by public agencies.”
1987 Philippine
Constitution
 SOCIAL WORKERS’ CODE OF ETHICS
We, the members of the Philippine Association of Social Workers, Inc. believe in:

• That the government, the private sector and the

public have a joint responsibility to promote social
justice and to ensure political, economic and social
well-being of all people;
4 Dimensions of Social Justice
 Social Justice Framework
• Actively addresses the dynamics of oppression and privilege that
society is the product of historically rooted, institutionally sanctioned
stratification along socially constructed group lines that include race,
class, gender, sexual orientation and ability

• A way of seeing and acting aimed at resisting unfairness and inequity

while enhancing freedom and possibility for all
 Guiding Principles
• There are differentials in access to social and institutional power

• While all have socialized prejudices and can discriminate, it is a reality

that the dominant group is backed by social and institutional power

• Those who claim to be for social justice must also engage in self-
reflection on their own socialization into patterns of oppression and
continually seek to counter those patterns
References
• Sensoy, O. & DiAngelo, R. (2009) Developing social justice literacy
• Perez Garzon, C. (2019) What is social justice?
• Novak, M. (2000) Defining Social Justice
• O’Neill, B. (2011) The injustice of social justice
• NASW Code of Ethics (2018)
• PASWI Code of Ethics (2018)
• 1987 Philippine Constitution (1987)
 Martin Luther King Jr.

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent

about things that matter.

Life’s most persistent and urgent question is,

WHAT ARE YOU DOING FOR OTHERS?