Conclusion: Barriers and Conduits to Social Justice—Universities in the Twenty-First Century

Abstract

At the close of a collection of analyses and reflections relating to whether and how universities should and do play roles in promoting social justice— intellectually, practically, pedagogically, politically, or by means of public policy—it is necessary to begin to address explicitly the broader issues and perspectives to keep in mind, to consider the present and future status of social justice as a social and political goal in human civilization. More specifically, how does the project of advancing social justice present itself in the twenty-first century as a context that appears to be fraught to an increasing extent by doubts about the prospects for greater democracy, social welfare, and equal opportunities for individuals around the globe? From the vantage point of social theory—as the rigorous effort to locate the social justice project and its current status within the modern age overall, and to reflect upon its practical-political feasibility—we need to ask: how important is it, in industrialized societies as the purported vanguard of advancing and sustaining social progress (given the economic resources at their disposal), to illuminate critically the willingness among political and economic elites, to allocate (or, to support the allocation of) resources required to promote and pursue social justice—as a medium-term objective that is central to the legitimacy of modern politics, society, and economics?