The day exists to promote social justice at national, regional and international levels. It sounds splendid – until you try to work out what it actually means.
The UN’s websites are not much help. This year’s theme is “Renewed Commitment to Social Development and Social Justice.” Renewed from what? Did an old commitment lapse? We are not told.
UN Habitat, the UN’s agency for urban development, explains that the day “requires a holistic approach that weaves environmental sustainability with social justice.” If you can picture what that means in practice, you are doing better than we are.
Elsewhere, you may find references to “multi-stakeholder collaboration” and “leveraging the Global Coalition for Social Justice.” There may be meaning in there, but, if so, seventeen years of searching have not revealed it.
But it doesn’t matter. After all, who could possibly be against social justice? Nobody! (Except Friedrich Hayek, who devoted an entire book to calling it a ‘mirage.’ But economists have never been popular at parties.)
The phrase has been stretched so wide that it covers everything from climate policy to labour rights to indigenous land disputes. When a term means everything, it means nothing.
None of this has dampened the UN’s enthusiasm. Every year since 2009 has brought a new theme and fresh jargon, though nobody can point to a single practical outcome the day has achieved.
Maybe results were never really their aim.
The UN now maintains 218 international days spread across the year. The calendar is so crowded that 21 March alone hosts five separate observances.
Last year, the General Assembly voted unanimously to create the International Day of the Markhor, a Central Asian mountain goat. The goat itself was apparently not consulted.
The World Day of Social Justice fits right in. It is another occasion for panels, concept notes and communiques that nobody outside the UN will ever read.
The world does get fairer, sometimes. But that tends to happen when specific people make specific decisions in specific places, not through holistic weaving.
But give the UN its due. It has spent nearly two decades celebrating something nobody can define, in language nobody can decipher, for an audience that never really existed.
And, next year, they will cheerfully do it all again.
Dr Oliver Hartwich is the Executive Director of The New Zealand Initiative think tank. This article was first published HERE.
UN Habitat, the UN’s agency for urban development, explains that the day “requires a holistic approach that weaves environmental sustainability with social justice.” If you can picture what that means in practice, you are doing better than we are.
Elsewhere, you may find references to “multi-stakeholder collaboration” and “leveraging the Global Coalition for Social Justice.” There may be meaning in there, but, if so, seventeen years of searching have not revealed it.
But it doesn’t matter. After all, who could possibly be against social justice? Nobody! (Except Friedrich Hayek, who devoted an entire book to calling it a ‘mirage.’ But economists have never been popular at parties.)
The phrase has been stretched so wide that it covers everything from climate policy to labour rights to indigenous land disputes. When a term means everything, it means nothing.
None of this has dampened the UN’s enthusiasm. Every year since 2009 has brought a new theme and fresh jargon, though nobody can point to a single practical outcome the day has achieved.
Maybe results were never really their aim.
The UN now maintains 218 international days spread across the year. The calendar is so crowded that 21 March alone hosts five separate observances.
Last year, the General Assembly voted unanimously to create the International Day of the Markhor, a Central Asian mountain goat. The goat itself was apparently not consulted.
The World Day of Social Justice fits right in. It is another occasion for panels, concept notes and communiques that nobody outside the UN will ever read.
The world does get fairer, sometimes. But that tends to happen when specific people make specific decisions in specific places, not through holistic weaving.
But give the UN its due. It has spent nearly two decades celebrating something nobody can define, in language nobody can decipher, for an audience that never really existed.
And, next year, they will cheerfully do it all again.
Dr Oliver Hartwich is the Executive Director of The New Zealand Initiative think tank. This article was first published HERE.
6 comments:
Thank you for a good laugh, Oliver - just what I needed at 5:30am!
Then I thought how much all this ostentatious bunkum costs and my tears of laughter turned into tears of sorrow.
Happy Social Justice day to you too, Oliver! Justice is great.
Social Justice is purely another word for Marxism.
Where everything is about "equal outcome" and the redistribution of wealth.
It has nothing to do with real justice or being treated equal and fairly and having an opportunity to a better life.
That life is chosen for you by some idiot social justice "warriors".
AKA - the "wastrels" and "useful idiots".
Predominantly using social media to spread their propaganda and to bully and agitate.
I’m all about justice. This article hits exactly where it needs to with respect to justice. New Zealand needs more justice.
Oliver, all you needed to have done was consult our own Chloe. This is precisely the type of word salad she specializes in and she could have given you an answer quoting chapter and verse. Of course, whether you, or anybody else, would even be a fraction wiser would be highly debatable, but that's not the point. For like the UN, they just love the sound of their own voice - more especially when others are paying handsomely for it.
It also sounds like the UN are using the same PR firm as our own locals, who never miss an opportunity to 'weave' something. Trouble is, when that term is used it's usually assocIated with bs - just as it is in this instance.
The most impressive exponent of linguistic weaving is Donald Trump who relies totally on people either not knowing what the hell he is talking about or alternatively why. The weaver-in- chief you might say.
Post a Comment
Thank you for joining the discussion. Breaking Views welcomes respectful contributions that enrich the debate. Please ensure your comments are not defamatory, derogatory or disruptive. We appreciate your cooperation.