Social Justice and the University

Can universities continue to play a major role in advancing social justice today? This volume illuminates key aspects of social justice as a theoretical project and as a set of practical challenges. Authors address related issues from the perspectives of active practitioners in the context of or from close proximity to universities. This compilation of interdisciplinary and community voices addresses issues of globalization, democracy, human rights, and how universities can act to promote steps towards greater social justice. As a relational concept, definitions of social justice reflect beliefs, values and priorities - which are neither consensually shared in modern societies, nor among social scientists who study it. This situation makes the concept exceedingly pliable and subject to ideological utilization. What implications result from efforts to advance social justice beyond the present status quo? These issues are especially pertinent to academic workers, who have been under the same kind of pressures that the rest of society has experienced. The current moment also poses a range of questions that challenge the role of the university. Can it continue to play a major role in advancing social justice when it is under severe political and public pressure to spend less, and to show concrete 'deliverables'?