The Social Justice Blind Spot: Part 6, Education and Training

Again, the social justice blind spot is that it says all our problems are systemic when much of its energy, focus, and recommendations are moral.

Another example of this is how much time and effort we put into organizational and institutional education and training. Consider how if an employee acts or speaks in a sexist or racist way they would have to undergo sensitivity training. Consider how colleges require their students to receive training and education concerning consent in sexual encounters. Consider how most businesses require workplace harassment training. The examples are everywhere.

To be sure, you need systems and policies to deploy and compel people to undergo these various trainings. And again, for this series I don't care what you think about these trainings, if you think they work or are counterproductive. I don't care about that for this series. The point I'm making is that all these trainings are focused on addressing moral problems, how people treat each other, especially one on one. All these trainings and educational programs are basically forms of moral education and improvement, learning to treat each other with fairness, respect, and care.

In short, a lot of social justice effort isn't just about moral policing, it's also about moral development and training.