Social Justice

Many issues facing science and technology (S&T) communication involve questions about who experiences the costs and benefits that changes often bring. Discussions about social justice address fundamental human concerns of fairness and, as such, have been a key part of contemporary debates about the impact of science and technology in society. Many of these discussions build on the political philosophy of John Rawls's 1971 work, A Theory of Justice, but include a range of methodological approaches. Some writers have focused on providing historical or case study–based descriptions of specific cases of injustice, while others have used social scientific methods to assess the relationship between fairness perceptions and outcomes, such as satisfaction with decision making. At the heart of [Page 813]social justice concerns are questions about ...