What is Justice?

• Credit value: 30 credits at Level 5
• Convenor: Professor Tanya Serisier
• Assessment: a 2000-word essay (50%) and a 2000-word blog or 10-15-minute podcast (50%)

In this module we explore different understandings of justice, focusing particularly on the distinction between criminal justice and more expansive ideas of social and racial justice. We examine the range of understandings of justice before turning to think about how we achieve justice under conditions of inequality. We ask about the role of the law and the state and of civil society in movements for justice, as well as linking the question of justice to wider issues of social change.

Indicative syllabus

Part I: Conceptualising justice

• Visions of justice in our criminal justice system
• Human rights and justice
• Non-western and indigenous concepts of justice
• Transformative justice
• Social, economic and racial justice
• Climate justice

Part II: Strategies for justice and social change

• Can we achieve justice in an unequal society?
• What is the role of the law and the state?
• What is the role of social movements?
• What is a just society?/How do we reconcile different visions of justice?

By the end of this module, you will be able to:

• critically analyse, evaluate and compare a range of perspectives relating to concepts of justice
• identify, define and engage with existing barriers to achieving just social outcomes
• approach a range of academic, social and popular texts on justice critically and analytically
• understand different approaches to social change
• evaluate theories of justice in relation to real-world outcomes and effects
• identify and discuss participatory and other research methods oriented to social justice
• deploy critical argumentation and debating skills.