This is the first talk from the 2022 Confronting Hegemonic Ideas Speakers Series (brought to you by Dr. Bedi’s RTS Counselling/Psychotherapy Research Lab in partnership with UBC’s Counselling Psychology Program Area and the Heterodox Academy). The speaker is Dr. Erin Thrift, faculty member at Kwantlen Polytechnic University in Surrey, BC. The talk is titled “Social Justice and Counselling: A Critical Perspective.”
Social Justice and Counselling: A Critical Perspective
Social justice appears frequently in the education and psychology literature, and counsellors often express a professional commitment to furthering social justice. However, it isn’t always clear what is meant by this term, which is used in various ways to support multiple ends. There are numerous practical problems with polysemy, including challenges in evaluating the effects of interventions, as well as co-optation of the term for the justification of neoliberal policies – such as eliminating and/or privatizing welfare programs – which have been linked to widening inequality. Despite the lack of clear meaning, I will argue that social justice has been and continues to be a concept that is culturally significant and worth preserving. I will discuss the challenges to finding a “best account” of social justice, given the wider tradition of liberalism, and argue that it is possible to discriminate amongst meanings by taking seriously its particular history (an argument informed by Gadamerian hermeneutics – an approach that may be of interest to those that encounter conceptual issues in their scholarship). The history of social justice in the West elucidates why this concept is contested and also provides the grounds upon which different accounts can be evaluated. I’ll discuss how Nancy Fraser’s and Martha Nussbaum’s respective theories meet historically derived criteria of a “best account” and explain how these views can help counsellors critically assess their potential contributions to social justice.
The "Confronting Hegemonic Ideas Speakers Series” is designed to increase awareness of heterodox viewpoints and inconvenient facts/findings that do not conform to hegemonic narratives and dominant perspectives, in order to promote critical thinking, intellectually rigorous research, and the ability to serve a broader range of counselling clients.
The “Confronting Hegemonic Ideas Speakers' Series” is supported in part by Heterodox Academy. The ability for HxA to provide Grants for HxCommunities events and other activities are made possible in full through the support of the John Templeton Foundation. The opinions expressed at these event (or through such activities) are those of the individual Grantees, organizers, speakers, presenters, and attendees of such events/activities and do not necessarily reflect the views of Heterodox Academy and/or the John Templeton Foundation.
The ideas expressed by these presenters may be seen as controversial by some individuals and confronting in some ways. The Counselling Psychology Program supports the free exchange of ideas and respectful open debate, consistent with the Canadian Code of Ethics for Psychologists, 4th edition (2017) standards I.1, III.8, and III. 21, and consistent with the Code of Ethics of the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association (2020) standard A7. The ideas expressed by the speakers are their own and no endorsement by the Counselling Psychology Program of their views is offered or implied.
