Forging Political Will from a Shared Vision: A Critical Social Justice Agenda Against Neoliberalism and Other Systems of Domination

Abstract

Due to pervasive inequalities and inequities in society, many people have a difficult time envisaging a just society; let alone how to go about actualizing such an aspiration. A critical reflection on the concept of a just society and the role that community psychologists and other advocates can play in upholding a critical social justice agenda in their research and civic engagement, particularly against neoliberalism and other systems of domination, is discussed. As part of a proffered framework, four tasks are proposed to fulfill the role: 1) raising public critical consciousness, 2) convincing people of the possibility of change, 3) creating a vision shared by the community, and 4) forging a political will from the shared vision. Accompanying strategies are provided in the discussion of each of the tasks of the suggested framework.

Fostering Critical Feminist Multicultural Qualitative Research Mentoring

“…Specific to qualitative research, neoliberal values and practices do not align with the paradigms that inform critical qualitative research (Liboro, 2015). Given that the aim of critical qualitative study is to illuminate how systems of power work upon psychological, social, and political processes (Morrow, 2005), qualitative research aims to bring marginalized perspectives to the forefront, uncover strategies to diminish social power differences, dismantle systems of oppression, and rebuild using radical practices.…”

“…When applied to higher education, neoliberalism fosters research that generates economic gains for the university (Chubb & Watermeyer, 2017; Olsson & Peters, 2005). By contrast, research that promotes social justice and multiculturalism seeks to benefit marginalized and underrepresented communities (Deering, 2016; Liboro, 2015), sharing the university’s assets with marginalized communities. The intention of socially just research is to catalyze positive change in a given community (Deering, 2016; Liboro, 2015; for a critique of neoliberalism in higher education, see Rustin, 2014).…”