“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today!”
Martin Luther King Jr.
The World Day of Social Justice, also known as Social Justice Equality Day, is a day devoted to make people all over the world, especially students, aware of what constitutes social justice and the historical struggles for its establishment. It is also followed by attempts to globally recompensate for the violation of social justice in different geo-cultural contexts in the contemporary times. On 26 November, 2007, the United Nations General Assembly decided to observe 20 February as the World Day of Social Justice, every year, starting from 2009. A number of prominent international and non-governmental organizations also celebrate this day and elaborate on its significance, each year, like- American Library Association, International Labour Organization, and so on.
Social justice, in sociological terms, refers to the relation of balance between individuals and society measured by comparing distribution of wealth differences, from personal liberties to fair privilege opportunities. In other words, it denotes the degree of prevalence of justice within various components, institutions and structures functioning in society as a whole. What is to be further noted is that this concept is not a new one, as alternative modes of social justice have been actively propagated in religion for thousands of years, especially in south-east Asian forms of worship like Buddhism and Jainism- which are based on such fine principles and philosophies of thought and action.
The long-term association and obsession with the theoretical and metaphysical dimension of justice has inevitably produced many shelves of books and manuscripts stating various hypothesis and laws based on them. However, the contemporary concern with justice is revealed in the nature of ensuring social justice. From political manifestos to the United Nations declarations, this term (“social justice”) finds a noteworthy position everywhere. And frankly, a part of that is because of the enormous gap and blatant denial of social justice in numerous arenas in the modern-day world- from political and refugee crisis to the question of gender and inclusivity, nowhere in history have these issues assumed such high priority in discussions and protests than in the 21st century. The second reason for the repetitive invocation of the term is because of the range of issues it includes, in short- every major problem under the sun, today is a problem of social justice - poverty, child labour, global citizenship, human rights, sustainable development, gender equality, removal of social and economic exclusion, visibility of marginalized groups and securing rights for them, fighting unemployment, universal social protections, are to name a few.
The United Nations theme for World Day of Social Justice, 2021 is “A Call for Social Justice in the Digital Economy” which further highlights the importance of cyber safety, online privacy and closing the digital divide in the post-COVID-19 world and way of life. The virtual world has enclosed all aspects of the real world and life- from jobs and shopping to movies and zoom shows. In that context it becomes increasingly important to account for the diversity and limitations of the web space because appearance-wise it is one of the most misleading spaces, projecting the illusion of a free and democratic platform for all social groups and representatives of diverse socio-political ideologies, including radicals and fundamentalists. However, that is not the case as digital censor, the hashtag protests, banning of Twitter handles and online trolling, to name a few, have become a part of the internet as much as Wikipedia and YouTube videos have. In time, the online space has emerged to be a highly complicated one, with powerful and complex social dynamics enclosed within algorithms, which make it increasingly difficult to distinguish and decode the pattern.
The 2021 UN theme, mentioned above, takes into account the intersection between “digital labour”, “digital infrastructure”, “traditional businesses” and social justice. Each of these terms is emerging to take the lead in the growth and development channels which are being created for use in the future world. These are objects of primary concern in a world which is reorienting itself to suit the needs and challenges of post-COVID-19 normalcy in life activities. Peace, security, globalization (“open world”) and social justice, play a pivotal role in opening up the world to greater interconnectedness, simultaneously exposing it to greater risks and vulnerability. From calling out nepotism in the Bollywood film industry to supporting the farmer’s protests, nowhere in history have the common people and the young India, so earnestly wanted the permanent establishment of social justice and protection of rights for all citizens. Therefore, the coming decades present the world and India with numerous potentials to bring about revolutionary changes in removing oppressive societal norms and institutions while establishing alternative peace-cultivating mechanisms ensuring social justice.
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Piece by-
Pronita Tripathi
pronitatripathi15@gmail.com
Biography: Pronita is currently studying English Literature from Delhi University. She is an art enthusiast with a love for writing and reading. She hopes to debunk the multiple stereotypes associated with Humanities Studies and become a worthy English Professor to her future students. She can’t wait to meet them! On most days Pronita chooses sleep over everything else, and on some everything else over sleep.
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