Recognition, resistance and reconstruction : an introduction to subjectivities and social justice

The aim of this book is to examine new forms of resistance to social injustices in contemporary Western societies. Resistance requires agency, and agency is grounded in notions of the subject and subjectivity. It is a premise of this book that new and/or reconstructed forms of subjectivity are required to challenge social relations of subordination and domination.
Subjectivity is primarily based on lived experience. While subjectivity is sometimes used to explore individualistic strategies for personal meaning, we argue that subjectivity is central to political struggles against regimes of power. Thus, understanding how subjects are constituted is important in fostering the capacity of critical reflection and social transformation.
Our aim  is to understand the relationship between subjectivity and the wider social order. The relationship between the psyche and society is one of the most challenging issues facing social theory. While there is a variety of theoretical approaches to subjectivity, those that explore the links between the subject and society are the most promising in developing strategies for resistance. In this introductory chapter, we review and interrogate what we believe are the most important theoretical approaches to subjectivity, drawing upon Marxism, critical theory, feminism, postcolonialism and post-structuralism. Our aim in this book is not to develop a new theory of subjectivities. Rather, we are more concerned with investigating how diverse subjectivities are constructed and reconstructed.

The politics of recognition and social justice : transforming subjectivities and new forms of resistance

Via a wide range of case studies, this book examines new forms of resistance to social injustices in contemporary Western societies. Resistance requires agency, and agency is grounded in notions of the subject and subjectivity. How do people make sense of their subjectivity as they are constructed and reconstructed within relations of power? What kinds of subjectivities are needed to struggle against forms of dominance and claim recognition? The participants in the case studies are challenging forms of dominance and subordination grounded in class, race, culture, nationality, sexuality, religion, age, disability and other forms of social division. It is a premise of this book that new and/or reconstructed forms of subjectivity are required to challenge social relations of subordination and domination. Thus, the transformation of subjectivity as well as the restructuring of oppressive power relations is necessary to achieve social justice. By examining the construction of subjectivity of particular groups through an intersectional lens, the book aims to contribute to theoretical accounts of how subjects are constituted and how they can develop a critical distance from their positioning.

A social justice scrutiny of the seating service experiences: what can we learn?

The paper presents the social justice findings from a study into the Australian  (wheelchair) seating service experience. As this study explored the insider's perspective, three participants' examples are shared (in the presentation) to demonstrate the benefits accorded to equality, equity and equal opportunity and the injustices experienced when denied;
- Brian* (pseudonym) a young Australian whose two accessories for his power chair changed his life.
- Donna* whose adult son was provided a heavy standard manual wheelchair instead of the power chair requested.
- Vince* a young self-employed businessman whose newly provided robust power chair is crimping his productivity.

Digital equity: a social justice issue for staff, not just students

It can be forgotten that it is not simply students who face the challenges of digital equity in higher education. Staff can also face digital challenges, and employment at an institution is not necessarily a safety net to protect staff from the digital divide. This paper attempts to give this voice to this issue. The digital equity challenges that they may face can range from internet accessibility, diversity in skills, or access to the required equipment and software, including necessary upgrades. This process is, however, is compounded when staff are geographically dispersed from the institution, disconnected by time, or where access to technology and Internet connectivity varies greatly between the institution’s sites. Much of these issues can be beyond the control and capacity of staff to alter. However, in terms of a staff-led approach to address such issues and empower others, a robust professional development program on digital technology is but one means to help stem the digital divide between staff ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’.

Unauthorised disclosure of organisational information through social media : a policy perspective

The unauthorised disclosure of organisational information through social media has become an issue. This has resulted in the need for organisations to re-evaluate ways of minimising the risks of information loss and disclosure via social media. The implementation of social media use policies can inform employees’ social media behaviours and ultimately lead to the creation of an organisational culture of awareness. Although organisations may have a social media policy in place, the issue of unauthorised disclosure of organisational information has not been given due attention. Hence, a pilot study of content analysis was conducted to explore how organisations address the issues relating to the unauthorised disclosure of organisational information via their social media channels. The findings of this pilot study revealed some emergent themes that are important for addressing the issue of information disclosure by comparing five different sectors. These emergent themes could guide researchers and practitioners in understanding and informing the organisational use of social media technologies.

Metaphor as a methodological tool : identifying teachers’ social justice dispositions across diverse secondary school settings

This article investigates the social justice dispositions of teachers and principals in secondary schools as inferred from their metaphoric expressions. Drawing on a Bourdieuian account of disposition, our focus is the use of metaphor as a methodological tool to identify and reveal these otherwise latent forces within our data. Our analysis shows evidence of redistributive, recognitive and activist conceptions of social justice. We argue that these three social justice dispositions may be insufficient to meaningfully address persisting inequalities in the school system and that a capability-based social justice disposition – absent in our data – is needed. We conclude by highlighting that: social justice dispositions can change; a valid interpretation of metaphors requires ‘contextual stabilization’; and metaphors for social justice are differently constructed in different contexts, influenced by the different social, cultural and material conditions of schools.

'Emergenza nomadi' : institutional continuities in Italian government policy towards the Romanies

The Romani peoples today occupy a marginalised position in Italian society. A small number of these peoples live in ‘camps’ in conditions of extreme decay and abandonment. In order to address this situation and to improve these peoples’ lives, the Italian government has recently decided to implement an ‘extraordinary intervention.’ In 2008, in continuity with previous centre-left governments, the Berlusconi right-wing coalition implemented the so called ‘Emergenza Nomadi’ (nomad emergency). The state of emergency aimed to solve an issue that had been already categorised in the 1970s as the ‘problema nomadi’ (nomads problem), and was now described and handled as a ‘natural disaster.’ Based on interviews with Romani individuals, institutional and Third Sector representatives, participant observation and a broad range of secondary sources, this article argues that the enactment of an extraordinary measure was both disproportionate to the real degree of threat, and perpetuated an institutional tradition of racism and control of the Romani peoples. It was not, as the declaration of an ‘emergency’ might imply, the result of a sudden, unexpected situation which required an immediate action. The ‘emergency’ and the premises for the implementation of a ‘state of exception’ were created by protracted institutional immobility and political vacuum.

Educating for diversity and social justice

Educating for Diversity and Social Justice foregrounds the personal stories of educators who are engaging the space of schooling as a site of possibility for realizing the goals of social justice. It is a book inspired by a vision of education as a practice of freedom where young people – especially those who are marginalized – can learn that they have a voice and the power to change their world for the better. Drawing on the work of US philosopher Nancy Fraser, the book examines issues of justice and schooling in relation to three dimensions: political, cultural and economic. While its focus is on research within three Australian case study schools, the book provides an international perspective of these dimensions of justice in western education contexts as they impact on the schooling performance of marginalized students. Towards greater equity for these students, the book presents a comprehensive scaffold for thinking about and addressing issues of schooling, diversity and social justice. Through practical examples from the case study research, the book illustrates the complexities and possibilities associated with schools providing inclusive environments where marginalized voices are heard (political justice), where marginalized culture is recognized and valued (cultural justice) and where marginalized students are supported to achieve academically towards accessing the material benefits of society (economic justice).

Boys, productive pedagogies and social justice

The issue of boys' education continues to dominate the gender agenda in Australian Education. Whilst concerned with the direction much of this debate has taken, we recognise that there are issues for some boys stemming from the ways in which certain masculinities have been valorised within the various communities that different boys inhabit. This paper will draw on a range of voices from schools to stress the importance of providing boys with curricula, pedagogies and assessment tasks that provide them with opportunities to explore and critically analyse their personal experiences of what it means to be 'masculine'. We argue that such an approach to boys' education has to avoid treating boys as 'disadvantaged' and instead has to be cognisant of the complexities surrounding gendered relations of power operating within boys' various communities. We suggest that the productive pedagogies framework provides an avenue through which such an approach to boys' education can be taken up in schools. We are mindful, however, that the gender just enactment of this pedagogical framework requires that teachers draw on key threshold knowledges about gender, masculinity and schooling. We present some of these knowledges and demonstrate their imperative in moving beyond reinscription to transformation of the gendered relations that constrain boys' and girls' schooling experiences.

Leadership, ethics and schooling for social justice

Issues of social justice and equity in the field of educational leadership have become more salient in recent years. The unprecedented diversity, uncertainty and rapid social change of the contemporary global era are generating new and unfamiliar equity questions and challenges for schools and their leaders. In order to understand the moral and ethical complexity of work undertaken in the name of social justice and equity in diverse contexts, this book uses a range of different theoretical tools from the work of Michel Foucault. Rather than a prescriptive, best practice approach to leadership and social justice, this book draws on Foucault’s four-fold ethical framework, and specifically, the notions of advocacy, truth-telling and counter-conduct to critically examine the leadership work undertaken in case studies in schools in Australia and England.

Indigenous girls, social justice, and schooling : addressing issues of disadvantage

Indigenous women and girls in Australia remain highly disadvantaged economically, culturally, and politically. The ways in which schools can better address this disadvantage are the focus of this chapter. The chapter builds on existing research in the area of Indigenous schooling and social justice to add important theoretical and practical insight into supporting Indigenous girls – an equity group whose marginalization (while highly salient) tends to be lost amid broader concerns about Indigeneity. With reference to “Emma’s” story as exemplifying some of the key constraints to the educational attainment of Indigenous girls , the chapter explores how schools might begin to remedy this disadvantage through their engagement with a politics of (1) economic redistribution, (2) cultural recognition, and (3) political representation.