State Power and Social Justice

Course Code: CDEV 3007

Academic Year: 2025-2026

This course focuses on the role of states in the struggle for social justice. Starting from the standpoint of frontline service personnel, it examines the dilemmas produced when governments redefine the form and purposes of frontline work. After reviewing typical past approaches to the problem of poverty, the course highlights legal, political and economic factors that affect action on this front today. Social justice is then considered as a policy challenge through examples such as police funding, housing, and food security. The course ends with a study of the links between community organizing and policy change.