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Basic Principles of Social Justice
Principles related to social justice have affected and continue to impact the thinking and behaviors of increasing numbers of people in the United States. Thinking about and implementing actions to address injustices in society continue to garner support among growing numbers of persons across a broad range of professional fields and disciplines. A partial listing of people who may tend to self-identify as social justice-minded workers include counselors, psychologists, social workers, human services practitioners, medical doctors, nurses, community organizers, public health professionals, teachers, school administrators, elected officials, business women and men, religious leaders, athletes, and environmentalists to name a few. This entry discusses basic principles of social justice. The entry first discusses contextualizing the term “social justice” by tracing some of the important historic underpinnings of basic social justice principles in the United States. After providing the historic context in which basic social justice principles evolved, the entry presents a related list of principles to further define this term.
Understanding Basic Social Justice Principles Within a Historic Context
Of particular importance for this discussion is the recognition that basic social justice principles are anchored in and evolved from fundamental concepts outlined in the formative documents of the United States. Key social–political concepts outlined in the Declaration of Independence resulted in expanding ways of thinking about social justice in the 18th century.
As stated in the opening of the Declaration of Independence, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” The initial social justice principles outlined in the framing of the Declaration of Independence are not static. Rather, they hold an evolutionary potential that has broadened and continues to expand thinking about social justice principles. This evolutionary potential is realized in the way the initial basic social justice principle specifically guaranteed for men was slowly changed to validate the rights and protections of women. The following describes how the ideas presented in the Declaration of Independence codify basic social justice principles in the development of the United States. This includes people’s unalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
The Right to Life
At its most basic level, the right to life is a foundational social justice principle highlighted in the opening of the Declaration of Independence. This basic social justice principle explicitly protects people’s right to live a life that is not denied by harmful or murderous actions by another person. The right to life is indeed a fundamental idea embedded in the evolution of social justice principles during the colonial period in the nation’s history.
There are many examples of how original human rights concepts undergo changes that result in expanded thinking about social justice principles. The evolution of the right to life has stimulated controversy among people who think differently about the basic social justice principle underlying the right to life. Such controversy has occurred, for instance, when social justice advocates assert that the right to life principle involves protection from life-threatening factors including a lack of food, water, clean air, and other environmental conditions that compromise the lives of many persons in society. This represents one example of how an initial social justice principle can undergo evolutionary changes resulting in more complex thinking of such rights.
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