Unit 16 : Social Justice and Gender Justice 
       Introduction 
       The notion of social justice is an emerging theme in the domain of social science, 
       though this idea acted as a catalytic forces in social revolution across the world 
       since ancient times. Since ensuring Justice is the highest goal of a state it has to 
       be looked from a broader perspective. In fact root of this doctrine stems from the 
       idea of liberty and equality which human being cherishes most. 
       Social justice, in a broad sense, comprehends the allocation of both material and 
       moral advantages of social life. It denotes a progressive concept and a model of 
       development. The Indian Constitution, for instance particularly in its Preamble and 
       the part dealing with the Directive Principles of State Policy, holds the promise of 
       justice-social, economic and political. In common parlance, the term „social justice‟ 
       is usually applied to comprehend all the three aspects of justice in society – social, 
       economic and political. It also implies reordering of social life in such a manner 
       that the material and moral benefits of social effort are not cornered by a tiny 
       privileged class, but accure to the masses to ensure the upliftment of alienated 
       sections of the society and it should also be for collective solidarities. 
       Development has to be viewed from a different perspective  altogether  in  which 
       growth and distribution are integrated into the very same process, while breaking 
       systematically the social barriers of discrimination and prejudices based on gender, 
       caste, language, religion or ethnicity. This is what „Development with Social Justice‟ 
       must  mean  for  us  in  India.  Therefore,  both  development  and  dignity  for  the 
       deprived and disadvantaged sections are equally important for charting out a new 
       path of development. Neither economic equality nor political democracy alone is 
       capable of giving dignity to all citizens. In fact, the two have to go together along 
       with  social  equality.  The  ultimate  aim  of  development  with  social  justice  is  to 
       ensure that all citizens of India live with economic, social and political dignity. 
       Theoretical Outline of Social Justice 
       It  is  said  that  justice  is  primarily  a  problem  of  discovering  the  right  course  of 
       action. Since ancient times, political thinkers have been trying to formulate the 
       concept  of  justice.  With  the  rise  and  growth  of  modern  world  and  modern 
       consciousness,  especially  under  the  effective  influence  of  the  principles  of 
       democracy  and  socialism,  this  very  concept  has  been  thoroughly  transformed. 
       Social justice in the contemporary world is related with determining logical criteria 
                 for the allocation of goods, services, opportunity, benefits, power and honours as 
                 well as obligations in society, particularly in a scarcity situation. 
                 It is evident that political philosophers and scholars from Plato to Rawls have been 
                 engaged in a great debate of distributive justice or social justice. This rich body of 
                 work has given rise to  diverse  perspectives  on  social  justice.  Among  these  the 
                 following  are  more  significant.  (a)  Liberal  approach,  (b)  Socialist  approach,  (c) 
                 Subaltern approach and d) Feminist approach. 
                 (a)      Liberal Approach 
                 The liberal model is rooted in individualism and is based upon a commitment to 
                 social  mobility  and  a  flexible  pattern  of  inequalities  as  opposed  to  fixed  and 
                 structural gradations in social position and wealth. D.N. MacCormic views equal 
                 well – being of individuals as basic to social justice. R.A. Pinker emphasised that 
                 social justice is concerned not only with the nature of equality but with the criteria 
                 by which inequality may be deemed to be just or unjust. D. Miler argues that 
                 inequality is rampant and becomes necessary evil and social justice is necessary 
                 for the worst – off individual in the society.  
                 It  is  perceived  that  unlike  liberal-utilitarian  justice,  John  Rawls‟s  liberal-
                 egalitarian justice is marked by its concern for the equality and welfare of 
                 everyone, including, especially, the least advantaged members of the society. 
                 He argues for the prime necessity of distributive justice. He emphasised that 
                 all social primary goods-liberty and opportunity, income and wealth and the 
                 bases of self – respect – are to be distributed equally, unless an unequal 
                 distribution of any or all of these goods is to the advantage of the least 
                 favoured. 
                 In the context there is a great deal of debate about how one look at this 
                 notion of Justice in a stratified society. In this regard it is worth to study 
                 contribution made by Ambedkar . He had envisaged that social justice could 
                 be brought when political democracy is extended in social and economic 
                 field as well. His idea of social justice is tantamount to the concept of social 
                 justice of Rawls who includes in his theory of distributive justice an element 
                 of difference principle which in Ambedkar‟s case it is the principle of special 
                 treatment.  
                (b)    Socialist Approach 
                The socialst model of justice is rooted in collectivism and exhibits greater 
                support for social equality and community. With socialists of all shades, 
                justice  exists  where  there  is  no  injustice.  The  chief  concern  of  all  the 
                socialists  has  been  injustice  meted  out  to  the  workers,  peasants,  poor, 
                unemployed, the lowly and so on in the system that exists in the society in 
                general, and the capitalistic one in particular. For the Marxists, justice in 
                the class societies is always a class justice, justice for the capitalist and 
                conversely injustice for the workers. Hence the Marxists find justice only in 
                classless society. For them, justice is not merely just laws, but also just laws 
                emanating from just society; it is merely economic or social in nature, but 
                also socio-economic in its ramifications. The democratic socialists are both 
                socialists as well as democratic, and therefore, for them, justice exists in a 
                just order and in a just society. Democratic socialism seeks to provide for 
                democratic  rights  and  civil  liberties  as  well  as  socio-economic  rights  of 
                citizens – a difficult combination indeed. If this could be achieved, it would 
                serve as an ideal scheme for social justice. 
                (c)    Subaltern Approach 
                Subaltern approach considers that any group in the society who has been 
                relegated to a subordinate position because of gender, age, vocation, class, 
                caste, race, religion, language, culture etc. are in the category of subalterm 
                groups. They are more or less placed in subordinate position because of 
                various  constraints  inherent  in  the  social  structure.  They  are  exploited, 
                oppressed and marginalized groups. The subaltern perspective on justice 
                demands social justice for the deprived and disadvantaged. It demands two 
                – fold objective at the same time: a) elimination of all types of discrimination; 
                and  (b)  provision  for  special  care  so  as  to  attain  social  equality.  The 
                subaltern perspective of justice is not merely economic, but it is also social, 
                cultural, educational, and even psychological. 
                (d)    Feminist Approach 
       Feminist  critique  of  justice  maintains  that  women  are  disadvantaged  in 
       comparison with men, and that this disadvantage is not warranted by their 
       natural  and  biological  differences.  Roots  of  this  discrimination  lie  in  the 
       social arrangements which have perpetrated injustice against women. In the 
       light of the growing social consciousness against various forms of injustice 
       in  society,  the  position  with  regard  to  the  status  women  needs  to  be 
       reviewed, challenged and changed. Indeed feminist theory and movement 
       urge that women‟s situation and the inequalities between men and women 
       should be treated as central political issues. All streams of feminist thought 
       focus on the causes and remedies of women‟s inequality, subordination or 
       oppression. 
       Because  women  is  regarded  unequal  to  man,  she  is  made  to  suffer 
       throughout her life: her subordination, powerlessness and oppression are 
       the  consequences  of  male  dominance.  Justice,  in  feminist  perspective, 
       demands escapism from woman‟s internalisation of female gender, and the 
       low self – esteem, apathy and sense of helplessness that goes with it. What 
       is  needed,  the  feminists  say,  is  not  merely  equal  rights  which  man 
       passessess, but also, as the socialist feminists insist, communalization of 
       domestic and childcare functions; the male superiority would have to be 
       abolished;  patriarchal  culture  would  have  to  be  demolished;  gender 
       socialization  would  have  to  be  imbibed;  women‟s  liberation  from  male 
       oppression would have to be fought out. The feminists do not regard law to 
       be neutral in disputes between man and woman; the idea of justice is, by its 
       very nature male – structured. The feminist perspective on justice means, 
       among others, elimination of all male domination, equality of rights, bridging 
       the  public  and  the  private  spheres,  and  creation  of  society,  culture  and 
       politics in new, rather non-patriarchal forms. Thus feminist perspective on 
       justice  calls  for  securing  overall  development  of  women,  including 
       improvement of their health and education as well as giving them adequate 
       share in economic and political power along with social space. 
       Theoretical Outline of Gender Justice