Remember when "social justice" had something to do with a "just society"? Now it's linked to other, slippery concepts: identitarian politics and "critical race theory". Does social justice mean social thought control (group think)?
What then was the Just Society, back in the 20th century when it was the ideal? It was a society in which everyone had equal rights. There weren't separate racial rights, marginalized rights, disability rights, gender rights and so on. They were the same for all -- called "civil rights".
"Civil" is related to "city" and "citizen", and civil rights developed to keep things fair and non-violent when humanity began massing together in large centres (cities). Spread out in rural lifestyles everyone could be individualistic, dreamy-imaginative, in touch with natural rhythms, or, in a word -- pagan ("of the countryside"). But living with the madding crowd was more of a challenge, in terms of keeping the peace.
So do we still have a concept of civil justice as practised in a Just City? What civil rights would it depend on? Some would be:
Right to free speech
Right to not read speech you don't like
Right to be offended, or to choose not to be offended, by multiple opinions
Right to congregate with soul-mates
Right to walk away
Right to privacy and quietness (un-stalked by CCTV and smartphones, or harassed by noise)
Right to access health care, contraception, and assistance in choosing to die, according to individual choice
Right to access nature, green-space, and the refreshing company of non-human animals
The right to add to this list -- please do so.
What systems do these rights rest on?
Government by elected representatives, separation of church and state, an independent justice system, and an uncensored press (and literacy to read it)
What institutions protect those?
Schools, Science-and-Humanities study, public libraries (Can't afford university fees? Many a genius, inventor and leader educated herself using civic public library systems as set up by the self-educated Scot, Andrew Carnegie, and others
Systems of professional certification in: health care, teaching, conservation, legal services.
Add some attitudinal flavours to this justice-stew, such as open-mindedness, historical perspective, and humanitarian spirit. Blend and serve!
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