Faith Groups and Justice: A Source of Solidarity or Division in the Global Justice Movement? The World Social Forum and Occupy Wall Street as Case Studies

Abstract

This article examines the role of faith groups in transnational movements of protest and resistance to neo-liberalism and whether they are a source of division or solidarity within those movements. Drawing on the ideas of Nancy Fraser, we investigate whether different conceptions of justice, including distributive, recognitive, political and environmental, are at the root of tensions between faith and non-faith groups. Using case studies of the World Social Forum (WSF) and Occupy Wall Street (OWS), we identify differences in the conditions under which faith and non-faith groups can achieve solidarity. Faith groups are a source of tension within the WSF, especially around recognitive justice issues such as reproductive rights and sexual orientation in contrast to OWS where faith groups were able to sublimate or reframe the issues to maintain solidarity. Recognitive justice remains a challenge to finding a more accommodative form of justice (Hosseini) which can bridge divisions within the global justice movement.

Keywords:

• global justice movement
• religion
• justice
• secularism
• faith-based organizations
• the World Social Forum
• Occupy Wall Street

Notes

1 We use the term faith-based organizations to identify groups that are themselves either established churches, or organizations affiliated to religious institutions. We recognize that some faiths are much more decentralized and lack identifiable institutions but we include any groups who self-identify as being faith inspired (Marshall, 2013).

2 Redistribution when used refers to the reallocation of resources from the wealthy to the poor.

3 For a summary of the debate on questions of recognition (identity, difference) and distribution (equality) and the attempt to reconcile them dating back to Lukacs, Gramsci and Althuser and beyond in critical theory and the Birmingham School of cultural studies, see (Olsen, 2001).

4 Fraser states that political ‘justice requires social arrangements that permit all to participate in social life’ (2005, p. 5), a concept compatible with the desire of the GJM to have social and democratic control over the economy.

5 These surveys rely on measures of religiosity involving respondents rating themselves on a three-point scale of not, somewhat or very religious. The term religious is undefined. The Pew Center asks an initial question ‘What is your present religion, if any?’ and then, if there is a response, probes deeper into what that religious affiliation is. The IBASE and Transnational Social Movement Research Group also asked individuals about their organizational affiliation and included religious groups or institutions in their list.

6 We use the term ‘social justice’ here because that is the term used in the program of the 2015 WSF. The term overlaps with accommodative justice. According to the analysis of the WSF by Steger, Goodman, Wilson, social justice recognizes the interdependence of economic, social, political, cultural, moral, and environmental concerns particularly in regard to the need to ‘focus on past wrongs’ stemming from ‘past forms of injustice such as colonialism and imperialism’ (2013, p. 36).

7 For example, a 2012 examination of the Occupy Research website (http://occupyresearch.wikispaces.com/), an international network of over 300 scholars studying the Occupy Movement, reveals scant mention of religion. However, it would be incorrect to claim that religion has no points of intersection with the Occupy Movement. Cloke, Sutherland, and Williams (2016) explored the interrelationship between religion and the Occupy movement in New York and London. They argue that ‘Religion … continues to bring theological and activist contributions to contemporary social movements’ (p. 4).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Peter J. Smith

Peter J. Smith is Professor of Political Science at Athabasca University, Alberta, Canada. His current research interests include new communication technologies, globalization, religion, trade politics, transnational networks, democracy, and citizenship. He is the co-editor with Sabine Dreher of Religious activism in the global economy: Promoting, reforming or resisting neoliberal globalization (2016).

Elizabeth Smythe

Elizabeth Smythe is a Professor of Political Science and coordinator of the Political Economy Program at Concordia University of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Her research interests include international trade and investment agreements, food standards, social movements, and the WSF. She is a co-editor of the Handbook of World Social Forum activism (2012).