The Meaning of Social Justice

Last week we explored the meaning of social justice through a debate between the people of Plachimada and Coke. The people of Plachimada are mostly indigenous and adivasis, two very oppressed and poor groups. Coke set up a factory in the rural area and has since been accused of using ridiculous amounts of water which has been quickly drying out the wells that the local people have been using for generations. Coke has also been accused of polluting the farm land of the area and now the land is no longer fertile. Half of our group had to try and consider the argument of Coke, even though at first glance we found their actions reprehensible. We argued over the rights of corporations and the interests of a nation versus the livelihood of a few people in that nation.

Following what became a heated debate we broke for tea and then returned as a uniform group in favor of true social justice for all rather than for the rights of a corporation. We discussed various theories of social justice as a class. We worked through a utilitarian theory of justice in which the good of all will always trump the good of a few. We, as a class, found faults with this theory and slowly began to develop new theories. Roshen, our social justice guru, guided our discussion towards a theory of a veil of ignorance. We imagined a meeting in which people did not know their past, their position in life, their socio-economic status, they were not even socialized to our society. In such a meeting it is theorized that the participants would always come to conclusions that would do two things: it would first make sure everyone’s basic rights and liberties would be protected and then benefit the least advantaged. This theory accepts that inequality currently exists works to reduce it. It has been proposed that we try to imagine we are in such a position when we consider different solutions to a problem.