Module description
Social justice has long been at the heart of 'development' – alongside economic growth, environmental sustainability and accountable governance. Indeed, even for these other goals it is frequently posited as their ultimate end: growth is promoted to generate the basis for redistributive justice, sustainability is often conceptualized as intergenerational justice, and accountable governance thought to be the best guarantor for equitable social policy.
Consequently, a lot of conceptual work has gone into the study of social justice, a lot of activism has been employed to achieve it, and quite a bit of critique has been written. This course takes a step back from these generic debates to consider the politics of social justice from an embedded, ethnographic perspective: what do people actually mean when they use the term? What do they do in order to achieve it? In taking a grass roots view, the course also introduces the anthropological approach to development at large, and prompts students to consider what immersion can contribute to the study of politics.
After a brief recap of relevant theory, the course reviews seminal ethnographic literature in the two main arenas through which people have attempted to advance social justice: the state and social movements, respectively. It concludes with a session to reflect on the ethics and politics of being embedded in projects for social justice while researching them.
Each of the main lectures introduces one seminal ethnographic monograph, drawn from a single country case. The accompanying weekly seminar sessions aim to provide context and critique through additional literature and comparisons with other parts of the world.
Assessment details
- 1 x 2,500 word essay (100%)
Educational aims & objectives
This module aims to:
- Introduce students to the anthropology of development through the ethnographic study of 'social justice' in emerging economies.
- Familiarise students with key debates about both the state and social movements as the two main vehicles through which social justice is forged.
- Enable students to critically analyse the effects of both state-led and movement-led attempts to increase social justice in emerging economies with particular reference to democratisation, economic growth and inequality.
- Provide students with an applied understanding of different models and consequences of social justice across diverse political and economic contexts.
- Prompt students to reflect on the ethical as well as analytical pros and cons of being engaged in projects for social justice while studying them.
Learning outcomes
On completion of this module, students will have:
- Become familiar with key ethnographic literature on state-led and movement-led social justice politics in emerging economies.
- Developed a critical understanding of broader theoretical debates about the advantages and disadvantages of state- and movement-led social justice.
- Understood the central role of politics in any project for social justice.
- Analysed the significance of the state as well as social movements for democratisation and economic growth, including debates around regional inequality and non-electoral, even revolutionary politics.
- Assessed how collective action problems are resolved within states and social movements, and how such resolution impacts on social justice aims.
- Engaged with reflexive debates at the forefront of the discipline of social anthropology about the relative benefits and dangers of participating in projects for social justice as a 'scholarly activist' or 'activist scholar'.
Teaching pattern
Weekly lecture and seminars