Exploitation and injustice were established over ten thousand years ago and have evolved into nearly universal existential realities, maintained by physical and ideological oppression validated in the consciousness of agents and beneficiaries. While this is the case, a change is necessary whereby social workers will shift from symptom alleviating social work to the tangible and actual oppression causes as they are the central dynamics of exploitation and domination that perfuse the current system. Such a change will require more than personal commitment and realism in avoiding quick fixes that fail to commit to long-term changes. This is because of the vices of domination and oppression result from human choices. Human beings are not naturally selfish or violent, as can be seen in the societies that are affirmed by solidarity and equality, but they choose the former attributes. Based on this aspect of choice, social workers must partake in the struggle towards equality, which aims at friendship and understanding as opposed to retaliation and revenge. Gil advocates long term strategies for social change that involve countercultural education towards a critical consciousness concerning the transformation of development-inhibiting institutions.
Injustice and Oppression: Meaning, Links, and Alternatives
"Social workers are required by the NASW Code of Ethics to challenge social injustice and to prevent and eliminate discrimination of, exploitation of, and discrimination against any person, group or class" (Gil, 2013, p. 11). While this is the case, the code fails to specify what these terms mean or stand for, yet they are quintessential in the concept of social justice. Social injustice, exploitation, domination, and oppression cannot be quelled if the definition of such terminologies is not expounded from the beginning. Nevertheless, the explanation of these terms is met with difficulties because people are not aware of them and have become accustomed to the fact that these conditions are natural and inevitable (Gil, 2013). The difficulties are made more problematic if the citizens believe in the illusion of being free citizens enjoying democracy. Students of injustice and oppression alongside their opposites need to explore not only the meaning of such terms but also the benefits and disadvantages they have gotten from such a system. Oppression refers to any economic, social, or psychological domination of individuals within a particular class or social group within and beyond the society. Injustice, on the other hand, refers to coercively placed inequalities and discrimination patterns that are often dehumanizing, such as slavery, which the dominant members of the society place upon their fellow dominated counterparts in the society.
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Domination, which is driven by the sole intent of exploiting, involves any disproportionality of resources in terms of labor, finances, productivity, and capacities of individuals that result in unjust living conditions for the victims. Based on such definitions, the difference between oppressive and non-oppressive societies can be seen. For instance, societies are considered to be non-oppressive if there is equality in all aspects of society, including the distribution of resources and rights and responsibilities. Some of the other aspects of non-oppressive societies include stewardship and the use of resources, biological reproduction, socialization, and social control, and governance. Additionally, such societies have frequent exchanges and distribution of resources coupled with civil, social, and political rights and responsibilities (Gil, 2013). Contrastingly, societies are oppressive if the constituent citizens are not equally treated, meaning they have no equal rights and responsibilities. Such inherent and undemocratic conditions produce individuals subject to different classes, entitled to different levels of liberty, and subjected to different expectations. When it comes to social justice in terms of exchange and distribution, systems are just when the terms of exchange are fair and balanced, all needs are treated with equal levels of importance, and all people are equal. In contrast to that, societies are unjust if the terms of exchange are discriminatory and unfair, the needs of certain individual groups ad classes are deemed more important, and there is preferential treatment in the distribution of critical goods and services (Gil, 2013).
Injustice and Oppression: Origins, Evolution, Dynamics, and Consequences.
"Injustice and oppression are not inevitable, natural characteristics of human life…these practices did not become firmly established until some ten thousand years ago" (p. 19). Considering that the process of evolution dates back almost twice as long as the existence of such practices, this further substantiates the notion that they result from human will. For instance, the resources used during this period of evolution resulted from human capacities, accumulated knowledge, and the natural wealth of the inhabited areas. Irrespective of that, stewardship of such resources was a common practice whereby they were divided according to everyone's level of need. During that time, work roles based on age and gender were undefined as every individual had to chip in towards getting the basic survival requirements (Gil, 2013). The conflict levels were relatively low as everyone concentrated on survival, and there was equality in the work-sharing and distribution of acquired resources. However, as Dr. Gil says, stating the good attributes of the older society does not necessarily "advocate for the return to that primeval stage of social evolution, in order to overcome oppression and injustice in the contemporary societies "(p. 21). Although the majority of societies then had all the attributes mentioned above, some were violent. Additionally, subtle inequalities still existed in terms of gender, age, and distribution of roles. Dr. Gil suggests that such societies be used as an example to develop ways to combat oppression. For instance, "we could derive important insights from the values and ways of early human communities and enhance our ability to overcome oppression in our contemporary societies" (p. 21).
Regardless of society's time and age, human beings must always strike a balance between survival needs and their ability to satisfy these needs using the available resources. During evolution, societies were able to sustain a given number of people at a time. The resources became depleted due to reproduction. This led to migration in search of other lands and the invention of new survival tactics. For those who managed to discover new ways, they continued their life of prosperity and equality. For those who failed to do so, it brought forth inequalities that resulted in the injustice and oppression viewed today. Consequently, evolution and discovery of new survival skills contributed to the technological advancement viewed in the world today but also brought along all the vices, such as injustice that are also deeply rooted in contemporary society. History of evolution explains the origin of agriculture and animal husbandry. Dr. Gil provides an interesting approach to the concept by relating the advancement to exploitation and oppression. "Agricultural products ripening… attracted pre-agricultural societies to invade peasant farmers, especially when populations increased" (p. 24). Such invasions, particularly around harvest time, resulted in coercive enslavement by nomadic people who appropriated the farmers' produce. That was the origin of inequalities in society.
Social Change Strategies to Overcome Injustice and Oppression
Dr. Gil presents some historical insights about liberation struggles from the past. For instance, "human actions have always changed social conditions, although people tend to perceive the institutional realities of their particular times more or less constant and feel powerless to bring about significant changes, even when they feel victimized by social conditions" (p. 36). The present realities are a result of social change efforts initiated by people living in earlier times. As previously explained, trade and other economic activities emerged more than 10 000 years ago where formerly peaceful communities began to invade each other during agricultural harvests. The dominant tribes enjoyed free labor, resources, and other economic perks, while the oppressed were enslaved. The dominators set up rules that barred the slaves from becoming free. As Gil notes, "the relative stability of social orders is maintained not only by coercion and control by powerful social elites but also tactic consent and cooperation of most people" (p. 36). Therefore, the societies were oppressed because of coercion from the powerful individuals and cooperation from most of the individuals. While this is the case, "people do actually have the potential power to bring about the fundamental changes in the societal conditions by collective resistance to established social orders" (p. 36).
The first social stage strategy to overcome injustice and oppression is the prevention theory. The prevention theory dictates that liberation from societal injustice and oppression encapsulates the eradication of basic causes rather than the liberal modification of the social status quo (Gil, 2013). Such transformations, however, will come from lengthy education processes that revolve around counterculture education that is geared towards social consciousness. The social consciousness will be initiated and sustained through social movements that seek to transform all the institutions that hinder development. In doing so, the movements must reach critical consciousness. Such a level of consciousness emerges from a total reflection of the world around oneself in relation to society and the environment. The liberation movements, as Dr. Gil explains, must target patterns of actions, interactions, and interrelationships of society members as well as the consciousness processes that facilitate the existing patterns of actions and societal relations (Gil, 2013). Lastly, planning strategies to combat oppression and inequalities should focus on value dimensions. They include equality versus inequality, cooperation versus competition, individuality versus individualism, and life-affirmation versus disregard. Others include collectivity versus community disregard and liberty versus domination.
Dilemmas and Vicissitudes of Social Work
Social workers view their roles as enabling conditions under which people fare well. To carry out their roles effectively, social workers need not only to comprehend but also overcome the prevalent social-structural factors contributing to human ill-fare. Human ill-fare is the condition that inhibits the faring well of individuals in society. "Human ill-fare, of varying degrees of severity, is an inevitable result of coercive initiation and perpetuation of socially structured inequalities and of the domination and exploitation of some people and social classes by others" (p. 70). In the past societies, these coercive conditions were primarily characterized by slavery and serfdom, and in contemporary societies, the conditions are manifested through exploitative wage labor. Socially structured domination and exploitation are the leading cause of disincentives at the workplace. This is because people tend to be more motivated when the push towards working hard comes from within oneself. The natural motivation and self-drive in people diminish once they are separated from concrete and non-concrete resources. Additionally, the motivation fades when they are consistently blocked from working at their own pace, for their own discretion, initiative, and interest but for that of others. In such conditions, workers are often threatened with poverty and layoffs to prevent them from quitting and working for their own interests.
Charities and social services originated from a response to people's awareness and concerns about ill-fate around them. "The functions of charities and social work have typically not been to eliminate inequalities, domination, and exploitation, the root causes of ill-fare and of disincentives to work but merely to reduce and fine-tune their intensity, so that people could survive somehow and so that established ways of life could be conserved" (p. 71). This means that the concept of charity and social service is to improve individuals' lives, especially the most vulnerable ones in society. Charity and social services originate from a sense of community and solidarity. While this is the case, charities and social work create a vicissitude. As expected, the two aspects are geared towards humanity and should be based on eradicating the dominating and oppressing factors. This is because societies that are deeply rooted in such elements control their working-class populations. Charity events and social works are conducted by the same dominant classes and governments that also regulate and oppress the working-class individuals. Considering that a large number of such individuals live below the poverty line, such events are conducted to ameliorate suffering, particularly in a stigmatizing way. The organizers do so in the pretense of care, but they do so to enforce submission into their social, economic, and cultural expectations (Gil, 2013).
Transition Policies Beyond Poverty, Unemployment, and Discrimination.
Transition policies differ from long-term policies in that they are short and medium-term, and are a quintessential step to end poverty, reduce injustice, and combat oppression. Moreover, transitional policies provide interim goals by starting and maintaining the progress of incentives to fight injustice right away. Dr. Gil provides two documents critical in transition policies: President Franklin D. Roosevelt's 1944 Economic Bill of Rights and the United Nations' 1948 Declaration of Human Rights (Gil, 2013). The two documents can be used as a base for the formation of transition policies because they recognize that human and political rights cannot be guaranteed and achieved without economic rights. When it comes to reducing poverty and deprivation, transitional policies should commence with acknowledging the preexisting inequalities of the current system or regime. That is the first crucial step that will be followed by striving to eliminate such issues as swiftly as possible. What this means is that the activists and other relevant drivers of change should address the immense injustices that the current system faces and base policies around them.
For instance, some short-term economic transitional policies can include ensuring the right to meaningful work and/ or adequate income as well as childcare as a shared responsibility between parents and society. With regard to work and adequate income, the policies can include more full-time employment for capable workers, increased employment opportunities, and access to income if one is unable to work due to preexisting issues and health conditions. Moreover, the policies could counter activities that reduce the quality of life, such as nuclear weapons manufacture. With respect to childcare, policies should focus on publicly financed childcare because tax deduction only favors the wealthy creating more drifts instead of bridging the gap. For every current problem, transitional policies should offer a solution. For example, the policies should counter inequality with equality and domination with freedom. Similarly, the current disregard for the community should be countered with harmony with the environment. In most cases, individuals accustomed to domination and oppression are often unaware that their rights to work and entitlement to adequate income are stipulated in the US constitution. Article VI ratifies those rights as the Supreme Law of the Land. What is more, a 1945 ratification by the United Nations obligates all member countries to promote better and humane living coupled with employment and universal economic progress (Gil, 2013). The US, therefore, being a member state of the UN is mandated to fulfill such obligation. Transitional policies will thus come in hand in the country's quest towards equality, adequate income, and employment opportunities.
Social Change Oriented Radical Practice
When it comes to social change, there are some underlying assumptions. To begin with, human nature does not compel certain behaviors, but instead, there exists a broad range of attitudes and social relations. Secondly, humans have needs that are either biological, social, self-actualization, psychological, or spiritual (Gil, 2013). For this reason, the organization of work and production, as well as the distribution of goods and services, operate in numerous ways, all aimed at fulfilling such needs. Consequently, such an organization tends to influence the quality of life, which means that societal values encompass ways that influence the fulfillment of human needs. If the existing institution frustrates these human needs, they are considered to be structurally violent, and such dysfunctional institutions need to be changed. There are several principles of radical practice. The first one revolves around the rejection of neutrality by questioning the existing state of affairs. The second one states that social work is not value-free, which means that it needs to reject fixtures that are professional and technical in nature by accepting and advocating for human rights as the major paradigm (Gil, 2013). What this means is that there needs to be a transition from the existing vertical and authoritarian patterns to horizontal and preparatory-democratic ones. That will be done by redesigning human work and rights distribution in non-inhibitory ways. Some examples of radical social work practice include helping individuals channel their frustration towards constructive involvement in change and establishing an element of trust between social workers and the general population. At the moment, some schools still facilitate the maintenance of societal orders. Consequently, education for radical work will entail questioning such practices. In such a scenario, the teacher will be facilitators, advisors, and critical assistants while remembering not to forsake their responsibility and leadership roles (Gil, 2013).
Conclusion
In retrospect, a shift from symptom alleviating social work to the actual causes of oppression that constitute domination and exploitation is necessary. Such a shift requires a personal commitment that involves making new and difficult choices through holistic social knowledge and not just the bliss of ignorance. Therefore, social change will need people to make commitments, both short-term and long-term. It is not going to be an easy task, because there is opposition from societal members who will call the drivers of change names like utopian, or un-American. Nevertheless, the journey towards self and social transformation must continue, whereby the optimism of the will and the pessimism of mind will be required.
Reference
Gil, D. G. (2013). Confronting Injustice and Oppression: Concepts and Strategies for Social Workers . Columbia University Press.
