LIBRARY
Social Justice: Suggested Social and Environmental Justice Topics
About this list
This list of suggested topics was created to help students and faculty approach the subjects of social and environmental justice from within their major or discipline. The list is not intended to be exhaustive: it is a starting point.
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Suggested Topics
Social and Environmental Justice
“Social justice fosters human progress in the social, cultural and spiritual dimensions, and so promotes human rights in the struggle for dignity and fundamental freedoms.”
“Environmental justice takes into account the most vulnerable populations in the mitigation of climate change.”
2007 Business Leaders Initiative on Human Rights
2008 UN Resolution on Human Rights and Climate Change
2008 Organization of American States Resolution on Human Rights and Climate Change in the
ACTIVISM
Non-governmental Organizations [NGOs]: are they positive agents for change?
Student activism
ANTHROPOLOGY
The Saami people [previously known as the Lapps] of
Traditional lifestyle of an aboriginal community
Cultural differences and values
Rights of indigenous populations
BUSINESS
Business Leaders Initiative on Human Rights BLIHR [United Nations]
Child labor
Domestic workers—illegal immigrants; fair wages and treatment
Effects of Globalization
Fair Trade
Corporate social responsibility in trans-national corporations
Human rights risk management in foreign investment—how a particular project might impact the traditional lifestyle of an aboriginal community
Environmental standards differ globally
Operating in zones of conflict
Socially responsible business practices: sustainability of resources
Sweatshops
Workers’ rights—migrant labor
CATHOLIC SOCIAL JUSTICE
Access to food, clean water and shelter: a matter of justice
Community: promotion of the common good, e.g. education
Development of poor countries in an effort to alleviate human misery
Dignity of the human person from creation: abortion; euthanasia; the death penalty
Family-friendly economic policy—where does the
Global responsibility for alleviation of economic inequality
Human dignity: how poverty affects human rights
Marginalization of the poor
Pacifism, disarmament
Rights and their corresponding social responsibilities
CHILDREN’S RIGHTS
Exploitation of children
Child soldiers in
Child workers enslaved on chocolate farms in
Child workers in
Human trafficking – prostitution
Right to free education
Right to adequate healthcare
CLIMATE CHANGE
Climate change inequitably impacts developing countries
Help is needed to adapt to climate change—technology, policy, etc.
Effect of sea level rise to small island nations, e.g.
Enable the most vulnerable states and populations to become more resilient to climate change by mitigation and adaptation
CRIMINAL JUSTICE
Challenges of terrorism: extraordinary rendition, torture and
unlawful detention
Crime victims
Death penalty / capital punishment
Human trafficking
Police powers and human rights
Prisoners’ rights
Racial profiling
DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
Access to information—censorship; lack of technology
Access to technology takes international support
Guidance needed in adaptation of new energy sources/fuels—environmental impact assessments needed
Non-governmental Organizations [NGOs]: are they positive agents for change?
Role of private companies in technology transfer—will technology transfer advance or impede human rights protection?
ECONOMICS
Economics and human rights: in conflict or complementary?
Is economics at the service of human dignity?
Food and nutrition
Global commerce and its effect on local populations
Pharmaceuticals—equal access in all communities?
Poverty and inequality
EDUCATION
Access to education: minority groups, the poor, refugees, migrant workers, and others
Censorship of textbooks; rewriting history
Children with disabilities
Corporal punishment
The "Digital Divide" : access to technology
Discrimination against girls or non-citizens
“Free or fee?” The right to free and compulsory primary education
Freedom from indoctrination
Global differences in attitudes towards the right to education
Impact of child labor or early marriage on education of children
Language of instruction
Impact of illiteracy on society
ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE
Globalization vs. local ethnic identity
Indigenous populations
Forest-dependent economies in the Amazon
Bushmen of
Arctic peoples and climate change:
The Inuit of North America—legal battle: right to property being lost through global warming
Landfills—proximity to the homes of the poor
Industrial air pollution – how it often affects the poorest and most vulnerable
FREEDOM OF SPEECH
Freedom of the press
Government censorship
Hate speech
Prisoners of conscience
“Reporters Without Borders” Reporters killed, jailed in Africa,
GENOCIDE / ETHNIC CLEANSING
Holocaust; Armenia;
GEOGRAPHY and SOCIAL JUSTICE
Landfills—proximity to the homes of the poor
Industrial air pollution – how it often affects the poorest and most vulnerable
GLOBAL WARMING
Carbon emissions trading—long-term effects on poorest countries—research needed
“Harm caused at a distance” —poorer countries need legal protections
Wealthy countries have responsibility to mitigate climate change and aid in adaptation abroad
GLOBALIZATION
Globalization vs. local ethnic identity
Exploitation of local citizens
Inequality in world politics
Impact on human rights—Does it lead to an unequal distribution of wealth?
HEALTH
Access to food, clean water and shelter: a matter of justice
Access to adequate healthcare
Medical experimentation
Rights of the disabled and the mentally ill
HISTORY
Theories and movements in the field of Human Rights
History and development of the idea in Western political thought
Non-Western attitudes towards human rights
Nuremburg and
Post-Soviet human rights
Colonialism and human rights
Apartheid
Empire and race
Slavery
INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT
Geneva Convention
Truth commissions
Universal jurisdiction
INTERNATIONAL HOSPITALITY AND TOURISM
Ecotourism: leave no footprints; low impact; "green" hostelry
Globalization of industry : how it impacts local populations
LITERATURE of Human Rights
“Writing as a discourse significant to participatory democracy”
Writings of survivors, victims, witnesses – plays, novels, poetry, stories
Imagery and symbolism
MATH & SCIENCE
Average wages worldwide
Bioethics: Biology and human values
Environmental justice
Fair trade, e.g., coffee and chocolate
Health professionals and human rights
Technology: absence of, in developing world
PERSECUTION
Cultural differences and values
Homelessness
Immigrants’ rights
Persecution on account of political opinion or social group
Race prejudice around the world
PSYCHOLOGY
Aggression and violence
Causes and consequences of genocide
Conduct of research with human subjects—ethics
Conflict resolution
Consequences of detention on refugees
Duty and responsibility of the individual to the community
Ethics: interrogation of political detainees
Evil: personality and human cruelty
Impact of apathetic bystanders
Peace psychology
Psychological dimensions of climate change
http://www.psysr.org/about/committees/environment/index.php
Human behavior toward the idea of climate change
Motivation: strategies to overcome inaction
REFUGEES
Internally displaced persons
Victims of disasters: Earthquakes; Floods; Fires
Hurricane Katrina and rights of African Americans
The children of war: Uganda's Lord's Resistance Army
Persecution on account of political opinion or social group
SOCIAL WORK
Access to social services
Cultural competence
Homelessness
Inequalities in treatment
Rights of indigenous populations
Social policies
Violence against Native American women
SOCIOLOGY
Access to education: minority groups, the poor, refugees, migrant workers, and others
The "Digital Divide": access to technology
Domestic workers—illegal immigrants; fair wages and treatment
Development of poor countries in an effort to alleviate human misery
Exploitation of local citizens
Global differences in attitudes towards the right to education
Globalization—does it lead to an unequal distribution of wealth?
Globalization vs. local ethnic identity
Impact of child labor or early marriage on education of children
Impact of illiteracy on society
Marginalization of the poor
Non-governmental Organizations [NGOs]: are they positive agents for change?
Poverty and inequality
Health
Access to adequate healthcare
Right to adequate healthcare
Rights of the disabled and the mentally ill
Homelessness (should also be cross-listed under Social Work)
Race prejudice around the world
Minority rights (women, workers, racial/ethnic groups, the elderly, children, LGBTs, the disabled, the poor, immigrants)
Athletes’ rights
Gender equity
Paralympics
Race equity
Sport and protest
UNITED NATIONS
Declaration of Human Rights 1948 – Internationalizing of human rights
How far can it go in protecting human rights?
Humanitarian intervention – Does it work without weapons?
Access to credit and marketing arrangements
Crimes against women
Discrimination in health research
Domestic violence
Equal pay for equal work
Religious differences in attitudes towards women
Shari’a: rights of women in a modern Islamic state
Women’s cooperatives
WORKERS’ RIGHTS
Clothing industry workers worldwide: sweatshops
Fair wages
Gender equity: equal pay for equal work
Migrant workers – exploitation
The right to form unions
Slavery –