KWANT TLEN POLY YTECHNIC C UNIVERS SITY DE EPARTMEN NT OF SOC CIOLOGY SOCIOL LOGY 2311-10 (12685) SOCIAL JUSTICE

J I N LOCAL A AND GLOB BAL CONTEX XTS COURSE PRESENTA P ATION

Time: W: W 16:00-18 8:50 Instruct tor: Dr. Cha arles Quist-Adade Office: Surrey Main 3850C Office Hours: H W. 12:0 1 0-12:45 5 adade@k kwantlen.ca

Roo om: Surrey Main 3820 0 Pho one: 599-307 79 Voi ice Mail: 93 329 E-m mail: charle es.quist-

COURSE INSPIRA ATION Course Descriptio on: "Injustice e anywhere is a threat to t justice eve erywhere." Martin Lut ther King Jr r.

"You mus st be the cha ange you wis sh to see in the t world." Mahatma a Gandhi

Thought without pr ractice is blin nd; practice e without tho ought is emp pty.---Kwam me h Nkrumah PTION AN ND OBJECT TIVES COURSE DESCRIP These th hree quote es from thr ree of the world w great test human n rights an nd social justice champions c s provide th he philoso ophical bas sis of this course. This cour rse is about the t sources, the dynami ics, and the i impact of social justice a and its antithetic cal correlate e, social injus stice in Cana ada and glob bally. But it i is more than n that; it is al lso about the e movers an nd shakers or the actors s, the victim ms of social in njustice, the social institutio ons and struc ctures that create, c enact t and perpetu uate social in njustice, as w well as individua als and colle ectives who challenge c the e perpetrato ors of injustic ce and work k to dismantl le the structure es and institu utions that feed f and sust tain injustic ce locally and d globally. It t is also abou ut the

individuals and groups that incubate ideas and craft and implement projects to promote social justice. A sociological approach to the topic begins with the assumption that these social structures and social institutions are human creations or social constructs. This means that social subgroups and structures such as the family, the educational system, the polity, religion, and race are neither natural phenomena nor divinely created entities, but that they are [wo]man-made and tied to and vary significantly across time and place. It also means that these phenomena ultimately rest on supra-individual processes of group boundary formation, segregation, and the creation of inter-group (racial) hierarchies. As well, it means that these institutions are not fixed or cast in stone or unchangeable; that since they are human creations, they can be uncreated, dismantled, reformed or improved. Accordingly, we will, from the theoretical standpoint, engage in a sustained critique of concepts such as social justice and its antithesis social injustice, racism, classicism, sexism, homophobia, and social inequality, and the assumption that prejudice, individual attitudes, or representations of such categories as "race" class, sexual orientation are the ultimate foundations of structural hierarchy. This course is praxis-oriented and as such a substantial part will be devoted to connecting theory to practice. Students will engage in group projects aimed at solving or alleviating specific social justice issue locally and globally. This course appeals to people interested in social change. Committed activists as well as students seeking a better understanding of social justice will benefit from this course. We will explore social justice-related concepts of exploitation, oppression, resistance, privilege, power, inequity, self-determination, and (respect for) cultural diversity, from the sociological and related historical, philosophical and political perspectives. Additionally, we will explore social, political, and economic justice in the global and local contexts. Finally, we will examine the connections between local and global social justice-related issues and conflicts and how these issues and conflicts are handled in international bodies such as the UN. Central themes are distributive justice, the politics of difference, civil society, empowerment, critical pedagogy, and human rights. Students will learn to assess critically different strategies for social change. The course objective is to identify and evaluate social alternatives, and to build and strengthen commitment to social justice through better information and reasoning.

For details click: https://courses.kwantlen.ca/course/view.php?idnumber=20141012685