Social Justice

The term “social justice” has a variety of meanings, none of them precise, and all rather abstract. Wikipedia, the web-based encyclopedia, says (Nov 2006) “social justice refers to conceptions of justice applied to an entire society. It is based on the idea of a just society, which gives individuals and groups fair treatment and a just share of the benefits of society. … Social Justice derives its authority from the codes of morality prevailing in each culture.” The values of social justice seem to be rooted in doctrines of religious faith, as well as law and politics. These two themes are intertwined in different ways, and play out differently in different cultures.

Reaching Social Justice

In this project, we are learning how philanthropy can help achieve racial equity and social justice, by investing in efforts that seek to close the gaps or disparities in how well our systems and markets work for different groups. Working intentionally on such a goal can be called social justice philanthropy. Our pathways to progress present opportunities for investment, promising practices, and examples of practitioner sites.