SSJ38250 Social Justice Movements

Academic Year 2024/2025

Across the globe, people stand together in struggles to create a better world. Social justice movements refer to forms of collective action that seek to challenge oppression and transform society. This module aims to provide students with a theoretically informed understanding of these movements, as well as of historical and contemporary attempts to achieve social change in citizenship and NGO settings. In addition, it aims to equip students with the skills necessary to engage in campaign-building as this is carried out by social justice movements and organisations.

Students will explore in-depth case studies of particular social justice movements as well as examination of some important cross-cutting issues. Examples of social movements covered may include anti-capitalist, feminist, anti-war/peace and civil rights movements, as well as more recent social movements such as the Arab Spring, Black Lives Matter, Occupy and the Climate Justice movement. Examples of cross-cutting issues addressed may include the role of the media, the relationship of the movement to the state and mainstream politics, and the explosion of digital activism in recent years. We will explore the forms of oppression, inequality and injustice that motivate these movements, as well as the strategies deployed in order to achieve change. We will engage with practitioners from Social Justice NGOs and movements in order to progress our practical understanding of campaign-building. For assessment, students will engage in group-based campaign-building, some of which will involve autonomous meeting, collaboration and learning. Students will also attend 'campaign-building clinics', which are designed to assist students with the practicalities of campaign design and building.

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Curricular information is subject to change

Learning Outcomes:

On completion of the module, students should:
1. Have developed a theoretically informed and empirically grounded understanding of social justice movements, across a range of historical and contemporary contexts, and across a variety of geographical locations
2. Be able to demonstrate knowledge of the current academic and political debates in the field of social movements and social change
3. Be able to apply their knowledge and deploy appropriate frameworks of analysis to understand and evaluate the dynamics of contemporary and emerging social justice movements, the challenges they confront locally and globally, and their success or failures in achieving social justice
4. Be able to grasp the fundamentals of social justice campaign-building, and demonstrate familiarity with key skills appropriate to this campaign building in NGO and social justice sectors
5. Be able to communicate their knowledge and understanding of the key issues in the field to academic and non-academic (citizen) audiences, using context-appropriate forms of engagement
6. Have the learning skills and critical awareness of important issues necessary to undertake further studies in the field

Indicative Module Content:

- Historical and contemporary social justice movements in a case-study format
- This will include anti-capitalist, feminist, anti-war and civil rights movements, as well as more specific and recent social movements such as the Arab Spring, Black Lives Matter, #MeToo, Occupy and the Climate Justice movement.
- Cross-cutting issues for social justice movements, which may include the role of the media, the relationship of the movement to the state and mainstream politics, radical vs. moderate forms of activism, digital activism
-Theoretical and conceptual literature in the field that allows students to analyse the forms of oppression, inequality and injustice that motivate these movements
- The philosophy and practice of social change, including campaign-building. This involves learning about movements aims, demands, strategies and tactics, as well as their 'theories of change'

Student Effort Hours: 
Student Effort Type Hours
Lectures

24
Specified Learning Activities

76
Autonomous Student Learning

100
Total

200
Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
Learning on this module will comprise a combination of:
- traditional lectures with slides, video content and handouts
- case-based learning as students are introduced to key social justice movement case studies
- active/task-based learning on the practicalities of campaign-building
- peer and group work as students plan, build and execute their group project; this also involves student-led enquiry & problem-based learning as students work together to build a social justice campaign
- Individual analysis and reflective learning, as students analyse their own campaign and learning outcomes
 
Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations

Not applicable to this module.


Module Requisites and Incompatibles
Not applicable to this module.
 
Assessment Strategy  
Description Timing Component Scale Must Pass Component % of Final Grade In Module Component Repeat Offered
Group Work Assignment: Students will complete a group work project in which they build a social justice campaign with educational and public outreach components Week 12 Graded No

50

 No
Report(s): Students will produce an individual report on the campaign-building group project, which comprises (i) an analytical piece of writing, and (ii) a reflective learning exercise Week 12 Graded No

50

 No

Carry forward of passed components
No
 
Resit In Terminal Exam
Autumn No
Please see Student Jargon Buster for more information about remediation types and timing. 
Feedback Strategy/Strategies

• Feedback individually to students, on an activity or draft prior to summative assessment
• Feedback individually to students, post-assessment
• Group/class feedback, post-assessment

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

Students will be provided with feedback on their developing group projects on an ongoing basis, from facilitators who will help 'problem-solve' any issues that might arise in advance of the final submission. After submission, students will receive feedback on their group project - each student in the group will receive the same feedback. In addition, students will receive individual written feedback on their individual submissions.