Meeting universal human needs as the foundation of individual and social development and of social and global justice: comments upon receipt of the Justice Studies Association’s 2008 Noam Chomsky Award

Abstract

David Gil was the recipient of the Justice Studies Association’s 2008 Noam Chomsky Award. In his acceptance comments at George Mason University on 6 June, Gil spoke about the experiential and conceptual bases of his commitment to social justice and non‐violence, which began when he fled Austria as a teenager following the German occupation in 1938. He also spoke about the importance of the concept of universal human needs when addressing any issue of social and restorative justice. Of course, in social situations in which these needs cannot be met, Gil noted, we are confronted with social‐structural violence.

Keywords:

• social and global justice
• universal human needs
• individual and social development
• social‐structural violence
• counter‐violence
• social transformation
• non‐violence