Justice is always about making certain the ‘outsiders’ in the world are treated with compassion and offered the opportunity of being ‘insiders’. And recognising that the ‘outsiders’ have a wisdom of their own to share. So it behoves us to look at those who are on the margins of our society. When we think of the ‘outsiders’ in Australia, we probably immediately think of indigenous people, disabled people, those with mental illness, those who are materially very poor and so on. And asylum seekers. Indeed all those who suffer injustice, inequality and exploitation. This should not suggest that we understand the experience of being an outsider through single categories. Those who are marginalised generally experience their status as outsiders in multiple ways. There is a curious and sad phenomenon happening in our country at present for all ‘outsiders’. There is a lot of emphasis on financial rights (leaners and lifters), arguments that everyone can manage if they try hard enough (apply for jobs that are not really there), and identity (many things are ‘un-Australian’). There is a lot of romance around identity and a lot said that seems to have little connection with Australian reality. Identity often means ensuring that people retain contact with their primary culture as well as working with their new. We need to ensure that perceptions of identity are not subject to abuse or to stereotyping and to do this we need laws, frameworks, campaigns and constant diligence. It is simplistic and offensive to insist that only some ways of evidencing ones identity are acceptable or permissible. In particular to tell women how they should dress is dreadful! Respect for differences needs to be a hallmark of any society and this is particularly true in a multicultural society such as Australia. The Jewish philosopher Abraham Heschel said we are all human beings but we have to work at being human. Part of working at being human involves establishing right relationships—with each other and with our world. Justice is really about these right relationships. It is about equality and cooperation and kindness and hospitality. Justice so defined is lacking in much of Australian current discourse and policies.
Posted on: Thu, 16 Oct 2014 09:16:30 +0000