Social Justice

Social justice is the quality of a society's generalized right-ness.

As there is no objective, known standard of what is just, the term can be amorphous and refer to sometimes self-contradictory values of justice. It is generally thought of as a society which affords individuals and groups fair treatment and a just share of the benefits of society. (Different proponents of social justice have developed different interpretations of what constitutes fair treatment and an just share.)

It can also refer to the distribution of advantages and disadvantages within a society. Social justice is both a philosophical problem and an important issue in politics, religion and civil society.

Most individuals wish to live in a just society, but different political ideologies have different conceptions of what a 'just society' actually is.

The term "social justice" is often employed by the political left to describe a society with a greater degree of economic egalitarianism, which may be achieved through progressive taxation, income redistribution, or property redistribution. (The 60% of Poor Singaporean)

The right wing also uses the term social justice, but generally believes that a just society is best achieved through the operation of a free market, which they believe provides equality of opportunity and promotes philanthropy and charity. (The 40% of Rich Singaporean)

Both right and left tend to agree on the importance of rule of law, human rights, and some form of a welfare safety net (though the left supports this latter element to a greater extent (e.g. to provide for capable individuals in society) than the right).

Social Justice features as an apolitical philosophical concept (insofar as any philosophical analysis of politics can be free from bias) in much of John Rawls' writing.

Some of the tenets of social justice, sometimes renamed civil justice, have been adopted by those who lie on the left or center-left of the political spectrum (e.g. Socialists, Social Democrats, etc).

Social justice is also a concept that some use to describe the movement towards a socially just world. In this context, social justice is based on the concepts of human rights and equality.