• What is social justice?
• Characteristics of social justice
• Importance of social justice
• Principles of social justice
• Examples of social justice
• Social justice and equity
• Social justice in Mexico

We explain what social justice is, its principles, characteristics and examples. Also, equity and social justice in Mexico.

Social justice implies the defense of workers' rights.

What is social justice?

Social justice is a complex concept that encompasses issues such as social equality, the equal opportunities, the Welfare state, the poverty, labor claims, feminism, among many others, whose common goal is the construction of a society more equitable and less unequal.

According to some scholars on the subject, social justice would be more or less what Aristotle proposed in his "distributive justice." In other words, it is the correct or fair thing to do in the distribution of assets within a society.

There is no definite origin of this term, since the demands for a more just society date from the dawn of the humanity. However, there is early evidence of a claim for "social justice" as an obligation of the European monarchs of the eighteenth century, in articles of the time of the Illustration, where it appeared as a synonym for greater Justice in society.

Since then, various Catholic thinkers of the 19th century have echoed the term, especially the founders of the Social Doctrine of the Church. Several decades later, so did the Fabian socialists, who inherited this concept to the Social Democracy.

Throughout your history the meaning of social justice has varied, but always around the same axis of equality and justice. Since 2007, however, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed February 20 as the World Day of Social Justice, holding that social justice is “a fundamental principle for the coexistence peaceful and prosperous ”.

Characteristics of social justice

Social justice can be understood in different ways but it always revolves around the idea that societies must change for the better, that is, towards fairer societies in the distribution of their wealth. It aims to reduce the margins of exclusion and discrimination, and to combat poverty and inequality between the citizens.

Many and very diverse political organizations take this term as a flag, but, obviously, the dilemma lies in which are the ways to acquire greater social justice.

There is someone who understands action revolutionary of forced redistribution of power. Others, on the contrary, propose a gradual reform process that expands rights and supports a more progressive society. Another alternative would be the defense of the welfare state and a democracy with strong social investment from the public sector.

In conclusion, there is no set of unique characteristics that define what social justice is universally.

Importance of social justice

The importance of social justice cannot be stressed enough, at least if one intends to live in a peaceful and developed society.

Inequality, poverty and the resentments that they entail are a breeding ground for violence, the populism and other political-social difficulties. No society can sustain itself on the massive suffering and lack of opportunity of the majority.

Principles of social justice

Guaranteeing access to education is one of the foundations of social justice.

The principles of social justice are not universal or always the same. But roughly, they can be summarized as:

• Social equality. Social equality is not the forced equalization of the social and economic status of the members of a society, but rather the guarantee that all, without exclusion, can fulfill themselves in the exercise of their human rights, civilians, politicians, social and economic, which includes equality before the law and equal opportunities.
• Equal opportunities. As its name indicates, it refers to the fact that society guarantees that the class or social stratum in which individuals are born does not fatally define their destiny, that is, that despite being born poor, citizens have the same opportunities to developing and to take advantage of their natural gifts than the others social classes.
• Welfare state. This is a concept of Political Sciences according to which it would be the Condition the one in charge of providing services to its citizens, to fulfill their social rights, aiming at a more egalitarian society.
• Income redistribution. It is about facing the inequality of economic income within a given society, distributing economic income in a less unequal way, to grant more resources to those who need them most. This can be done in many ways, the most common being social assistance.
• Defense of the labor rights and union. This implies the protection of unions, labor unions and other union models that allow workers to workers a margin of defense against exploitation and economic inequality, which becomes a matter of powers between employer and workers. The State, then, would be called to serve as a mediator in the matter.

Examples of social justice

Some examples of policies inspired by social justice are:

• Laws protection of women. The gender violence It has existed forever, and eradicating it can be extremely difficult, since it requires a cultural change, not just a social one. This requires a combination of punitive laws against femicide and sexual violence, to favor the education in values from gender equality and to prohibit violent practices towards women (such as female genital mutilation).
• Scholarship plans for the study. Available to the most advantaged students from the lower-income sectors, as a way to encourage study and reward effort in the most vulnerable sectors.
• Legislation of equal marriage. Marriage is the basic institution of society, and in that sense its extension to the homosexual community is not only logical and necessary, but it comes quite late in modern society. Guarantee homosexual couples the legal benefits of the marriage Not only is it legitimate, but it does not at all contradict religious or conservative positions on the matter, since it is a secular act, not a religious one.

Social justice and equity

Social justice is proposed as one of the paths to equity, understood as the fairer distribution of the wealth of a society, giving everyone what they deserve and need, in order to build a less unequal society.

For this, it is necessary to invest resources in promoting the growth of the less privileged sectors, those that are born in poverty and that require more attention than the middle and upper classes. In this way, society will be able to reward the effort and not the place of birth.

Social justice in Mexico

Mexico is part of the list of most unequal countries in Latin America. In addition, poverty is largely associated with indigenous sectors of society, thus giving a racial base to the trouble.

2.7 million Mexicans from indigenous ethnic groups are on the sidelines of indicators of well-being as elementary as access to basic services or access to education. In that sense, the Mexican nation would not fare very well in an evaluation of the level of social justice, if that could be measured in a concrete and simple way.