Studying social justice ‘crucial to critical thinking’
Re: Give These Courses A Big Fat F, June 24. Reporter Joseph Brean writes that social justice is joining the ranks of other “obsolete departments” in universities. In his dreams. Tell that to the people of Brazil, who are demonstrating in the millions. Tell the students of Quebec, who, last year, brought down the provincial government. Tell the Arab Spring movement. Tell the Occupy movement. Tell the people of Greece As long as there is neoliberalism, there will be social justice, which is crucial to critical thinking at universities, and in society at large. James Winter, professor, University of Windsor, Windsor, Ont.
… or is it?
There are several problems with the “centre” concept (such as the Centre for Studies in Social Justice at the university of Windsor) for universities.
First, they are intrinsically narrow in their focus, providing, for example, smatterings of history or philosophy only as they relate to the centre’s topic. This can be detrimental to a student’s job prospects. Second, as in the case of gender- or race-based centres, they can replace objectivity with an agenda of victimhood. Finally, they are often an excuse for empire-building by ambitious faculty with little regard for educational outcomes. A concept like social justice can be studied effectively through traditional disciplines like history, philosophy, and literature.
One of the joys of learning is the “aha” moment when a student recognizes the universality of a theme like civil rights in different contexts and makes the connections him/herself.