SSJ38250 Social Justice Movements

Academic Year 2023/2024

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.

There will be block teaching in the first 7 weeks of the trimester (3 hours every Friday afternoon), in which students will be introduced to 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, 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 work with practitioners from Social Justice NGOs and movements in order to progress our practical understanding of campaign-building. In the final 5 weeks of the trimester, there will be no formal lectures. Instead students will engage in group-work-based campaign building, much of which will involve autonomous meeting, collaboration and learning. Students will also attend three 'campaign-building clinics' run by facilitators from NGOs with direct experience in social justice campaign building, 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:

Students will explore historical and contemporary social justice movements in a case-study format, which may include anti-capitalist, feminist, 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.
Students will learn about 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, and the explosion of digital activism in recent years.
Students will be be introduced to the theoretical and conceptual literature in the field in order to explore and analyse the forms of oppression, inequality and injustice that motivate these movements, as well as the strategies deployed in order to achieve 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:
In this module, students will engage in block teaching in the first 7 weeks of term, that will comprise a combination of traditional lectures; case-based learning as students are introduced to key social justice movement case studies; active/task-based learning with facilitators from NGOs; and peer and group work as students plan their group project. In the final 5 weeks of term, students will engage in student-led enquiry & problem-based learning as they work together to build a social justice campaign. This will also involve some collaborative work with representatives from NGOs in the form of drop-in clinics designed to help students progress their work in teams, and engage in problem-solving with practitioners in the field. Students will also engage in reflective learning during this period, and will produce a reflective learning journal. 
Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations

Not applicable to this module.


Module Requisites and Incompatibles
Not applicable to this module.
 
Assessment Strategy  
Description Timing Open Book Exam Component Scale Must Pass Component % of Final Grade
Journal: Students will produce an individual reflective learning journal that supplements their contribution to the group project Coursework (End of Trimester) n/a Graded No

50

Group Project: Students will complete a group work project in which they build a social justice campaign with educational and public outreach components Coursework (End of Trimester) n/a Graded No

50


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?

In the drop-in clinics in weeks 7-12 of term, students will have the opportunity to engage with with social justice practitioners, who will provide feedback on their developing group projects, and 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 reflective learning journal.

Name Role
Dr John McGuire Lecturer / Co-Lecturer
Mr John McGuire Lecturer / Co-Lecturer
Timetabling information is displayed only for guidance purposes, relates to the current Academic Year only and is subject to change.
 
Spring
     
Lecture Offering 1 Week(s) - 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33 Tues 09:00 - 10:50
Lecture Offering 1 Week(s) - 27 Tues 09:00 - 10:50
Spring