Today, I want to talk about social justice – one of my favourite topics. I had a discussion with a friend whose now 9-year-old son likes to defend others who are/might be bullied. We talked about self-righteousness, heroism and empowerment. It led me to one of my world-improve-rants, possibly being self-righteous myself. It’s all significant for happiness since we often believe that we must save others so that they can be happy. This is still true but it’s not so much about saving that makes people happy…
Social Justice
Since I have a Master in Development Studies and researched 6 years for my PhD in forced migration (refugee) studies at the School of Social Sciences, I’ve been exposed to lots of social justice in action as well as social justice righteousness. Don’t get me wrong, I always had this strong idea about right and wrong and hated treatment which I perceived as unfair. I, too, felt that I should save people/animals/plants/environment and should do something about perceived injustice. I wanted to save everyone, then got really overwhelmed and finally started to see the whole saving business from a whole different perspective.
So, in case you haven’t been exposed much to the term social justice, here is what AI spit out when I googled it:
Social justice is the fair and equitable distribution of resources, opportunities, and privileges in a society. It also refers to the protection of individuals’ rights.
More importantly, here is a graphic I love to showcase justice (social justice):
And yes, bullying is a social justice issue. Bullying is about limiting access to resources (usually being part of a group or activity). It’s about making someone feel less worthy to reach for resources such as emotional support from peers. It’s about creating a power imbalance. If you will, it is like pulling the crate in the artwork above out from under the kids. So, it’s socially unjust.
Heroism
Let’s stick to the school courtyard where a lot of injustice happens. A child observes that another kid is bullied or somehow not treated well and addresses the bully. Most likely, it ends in a physical fight. But the kid defending the bullied kid is somehow the hero – at least in their own story and probably also for the bullied kid. Everyone happy? Social justice reinstalled?
Well… will the kid never be bullied again? Will the bully never bully again? Was it bullying in the first place or just the perception of the hero child? Was the hero child trying to rectify the injustice or needed a reason to fight?
It never is that easy, is it? I mean in the good old times that child defending the other would absolutely be the hero. Even if nothing was solved and possibly it was not even bullying in the first place. Ah, the good old times when right and wrong were still white and black (yep, did that on purpose with lots of sarcasm). Did the good old times make people happy? I’m not so sure.
Empowerment
So, do we have to sit still and do nothing? Of course not. First, of all, you can do whatever you feel you have to do. Be a hero. Defend someone or yourself. Absolutely. Maybe be even a bit self-righteous – aren’t we all at some point?
My solution for the scenario is empowerment. I recently read a book that mentioned briefly that victims of abusive (bullying) relationships are ordinarily told to leave these relationships (yes, of course!). Australia invests a lot of money into that pathway and it is almost common knowledge that you must leave abusive relationships and go to a safe house or so. However, the victims are usually not told to withstand the abuse or perform their out of that relationship. I was on high alert. What about victims of abuse and their kids getting killed?
But then it dawned on me what the writer might mean – our social justice provides a solution for this common problem but it’s also prescribed. We as a society, heroically, offer you a way to safety. If you don’t want that, it’s your fault. But there is this bit in which victims are allowed to have opinions. The victims know their situation best and maybe it’s much more helpful to support them in building their own solution. Wouldn’t that be much more helpful?
Let’s return to the school courtyard where a kid is bullied. If the hero child marches in and fights the bad bully, what does the bullied child get? A moment of the feeling that someone cares?
The next questions are, does the hero child care or do they just like to be a hero? Will they keep defending the bullied child? Or would it be much more sensible to work out with the bullied child how to get out of that situation? Maybe by alerting a teacher or working on things to say to the bully. Can the bullied child do that or are they too self-conscious?
Helping the kid might not be that straightforward and heroic. But, if social justice is the inspiration for stepping in when a child is bullied, empowering that child is the only sustainable way out. Because if the kid is bullied in that situation the kid is likely to get bullied by others (and also later in life) as well. Beating up the bully won’t change that. Empowering that child, however, will. The hero child can still be the hero but it’s more work and requires empathy and investment.
In the long run, this would make everyone happier, wouldn’t it? What do you think?