Editorial Introduction

Summary

“The goal of social justice is full and equal participation of all groups in a society that is mutually shaped to meet their needs. Social justice includes a vision of society in which the distribution of resources is equitable and all members are physically and psychologically safe and secure.”

Lee Anne Bell, in Teaching for Diversity and Social Justice (2nd Ed.)

The Agenda for Social Justice was inspired by the 48th President of the Society for the Study of Social Problems (SSSP), Robert Perrucci. In his 2000 Presidential Address, Professor Perrucci called for a “report to the nation” to be issued every four years, timed to coincide with U.S. Presidential and Congressional elections. These reports, he said, “would be designed to stimulate discussion about ‘what we know’ [about] the magnitude of existing social problems (e.g., poverty, homelessness, child welfare),” and would propose effective policy solutions to some of the nation’s most persistent and pressing social problems. His vision was that such statements would be based on the best research evidence available, but written in language easily consumed by the general public, rather than in academic jargon, with the purpose being “to get people in the wider society thinking about the ‘middle range utopias’ that could serve as alternatives” to present inequalities.

Not only did Dr. Perrucci speech mark the 50th Annual Meeting of the SSSP, it also helped set an agenda for our work moving into the 21st century. From this inspiration a new committee was formed, the Justice 21 Committee, whose mission is to undertake the challenge set by Dr. Perrucci to contribute to a public sociology of social problems. With the first Agenda for Social Justice published in 2004, this one is the fourth edition, and we are pleased to have it published by the Policy Press, whose values align well with SSSP’s purpose, “to encourage problem-centered social research and to foster cooperative relations among persons and organizations engaged in the application of scientific sociological findings to the formulation of social policies.” Policy Press is an independent not-for-profit publisher, that promotes “the use of research evidence to improve policy making, practice, or social well-being.”

Our contributors for this volume come from 14 different public and private universities throughout the United States.