Martin Conway & Camilo Erlichman: DEMISE OF A DREAM? SOCIAL JUSTICE PAST AND PRESENT

Martin Conway, Camilo Erlichman, Fabio Wolkenstein, Julia Hofmann, Eva Maria Muschik

DEMISE OF A DREAM? SOCIAL JUSTICE PAST AND PRESENT

Today, we live in a time of a post-liberal challenge to social justice. Over much of the twentieth century, social justice has been closely associated with liberal democracy, with its claims included, in one way or another, in the political programmes of all democratic parties and movements. The expansion of social justice into the rhetoric of both the political right and left, however, has led to the universalization of social justice claims, and its promises have become an essential part of the ways in which illiberal movements and authoritarian regimes in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries have constructed their legitimacy. What can this history teach us to face the challenges of today more effectively? Here, historians will discuss the modern evolution of concepts and practices of social justice in conversation with social scientists, engaging with questions such as: What have historically proven to be successful forms of collective mobilization around issues of social justice in both democracies and authoritarian regimes? Do individual appeals to social justice matter? What languages does social justice speak? How was social justice reimagined during the twentieth century? Does the debate and concept of social justice in the twentieth century differ from today?

The talk and discussion occur on the occasion of the release of Social Justice in Twentieth-Century Europe (Cambridge U Press, 2024), edited by Martin Conway and Camilo Erlichman and written by an international team of leading historians. The book provides the first historical account of the evolution of notions of social justice across Europe since the late nineteenth century. It analyses the often divergent ways in which political movements, state institutions, intellectual groups, and social organisations have understood and sought to achieve social justice.

Martin Conway, Professor of Contemporary European History at the University of Oxford

Camilo Erlichman, Assistant Professor in History at the Department of History, Maastricht University

Fabio Wolkenstein, Associated Professor, Department of Political Science, University of Vienna

Julia Hofmann, Sociologist, Chamber of Labour, Vienna

Moderation: Eva-Maria Muschik, Assistant Professor in Development Studies, University of Vienna

A joint event of the Bruno Kreisky Forum and the MSCA Research Project WORK-AGE-JUST