Top Ten Social Justice Trends of the Last Decade

10.  Bono

Bono, the rock-star-turned-humanitarian, has been speaking truth to power since 1999.  He has achieved near honorary statesman status and has influenced many heads of state.  Since 2002 he has become increasingly involved in campaigning for third-world debt relief and raising awareness of the plight of Africa, including the AIDS pandemic.  He co-founded DATA (which stands for Debt, AIDS, Trade, Africa) with Bobby Shriver and the Jubilee 2000 Debt Campaign.  Some, however, have questioned his effectiveness, asking whether his work to raise awareness has contributed to the view of Africa as needy, incapable, and corrupt.  Regardless, he has done more than virtually any single person to change the way we think about Africa and about extreme poverty.

9.  Celebrity spokespeople

Following in Bono’s footsteps, and forging paths of their own, celebrities such as Brad Pitt, Oprah, Angelina Jolie and Matt Damon have  contributed their voice to humanitarian awareness-raising.  They’ve take televised trips to Africa, served as UN spokespeople, and popularized international adoptions.  The ONE campaign, an organization aimed at combating AIDS and poverty in the developing world, relied heavily on celebrity spokespeople, and the slew of stars that got on board is arguably (largely) responsible for the success of the campaign.

8.  Making it personal

Americans are taking more and more responsibility for their actions and changing their habits for the better of the earth and others.  On average, Americans are responsible for 22 tons of carbon dioxide emissions every year, which is far above 6 tons per capita in most of the rest of the world (UN Statistics).  According to Facing the Future, “the world’s richest countries make up only one-fifth of global population but account for 45% of all meat consumption, 58% of total energy use, 84% of paper use, and 87% of vehicle ownership. At the other end of the spectrum, the poorest fifth of the world’s population – more than one billion people – still lack food, shelter, housing, water and sanitation, and access to electricity.”  Americans are becoming more and more aware of these facts, and making changes in their daily lives to account for this discrepancy such as “going green” and rejecting corporate control of the food chain.

7.  Rejecting consumerism

Anti-consumerism as a philosophical movement has been around at least as long as capitalism, when Karl Marx took issue with consumption and argued against the “alienation” inherent in the capitalist system.  Books such as No Logo by Naomi Klein and The Corporation brought anti-consumerism into public consciousness during this decade.  Organizations such as the New American Dream, Adbusters, and the recent book, Everyday Justice, help Americans question the pursuit of material goods and encourage different ways of living, trading and working.  Particularly because of the recession, Americans have increased non-consumptive behavior like bartering, gleaning, and advanced trading schemes such as Time Banking.  During 2009 bartering on Craiglist went up by 100 percent, leading many to hope this phenomenon will stay.

6.  Fashionable, do-good consumerism

Do-good consumerism arose to national prominence with the launch of Product RED, an initiative launched by Bono and Bobby Shriver to raise money for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria.  Now, many organizations include purchasing goods as part of their awareness-raising model.  Particularly in America, it can be an effective model for raising both money and awareness and money.  However, many question both its efficacy (purchasing goods from companies who exploit workers) and the values in inherent in the system (buy more to do good).

5.  Advocacy

Since 1972 Bread for the World has contacted US lawmakers to influence legislation on behalf of the hungry.  In the past decade, advocacy as a cultural response to the needs of the world has grown.  The rise of citizen advocacy has gone hand in hand with the rise of caring about Africa as a cultural phenomenon.  Most of the large international humanitarian organizations include some form of advocating for others as part of their response to issues like global poverty and human trafficking.  These efforts have had great success in influencing legislation and spending on humanitarian issues by the US government.

4.  The Rise of the Locavore

The aughts have seen the rise of the local food movement and the rejection of the industrialized food chain.  Books such as Michael Pollen’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma and Barbara Kingsolver’s Animal Vegetable Miracle have radically altered the way people eat and spend.  Farmer’s markets are on the rise and even the White House has an organic garden.  We might even have a radically different food system in the coming decades if this keeps up.

3.  Moving into the neighborhood

According to the Prayer Foundation, New Monasticism has roots that trace back to the 1930s and the work of Dietrich Bonhoeffer.  However, since the middle of the decade, and particularly since the publication of Ordinary Radicals by Shane Claiborne in 2006, New Monasticism has widely influenced the Christian community in America.  According an article by the Boston Globe, there are an estimated 100 groups in North America claiming to be both “evangelical” and “monastic,” but the movement has had much greater impact; it has certainly been responsible for the rise of more justice- and other-oriented faith, particularly among twenty-somethings.

2.  Going Green

“Going Green” has become so popular in the last decade that a veritable industry has grown out of the movement.  In America at least, producing and buying more “green” (efficient, recycled, less energy intensive) stuff has become the primary means of “going green.”  It’s an important step in the right direction, but it’s a typical American phenomenon: rather than reducing and consuming less, we focus on buying more goods, leading many to ask whether simply buying more “green” stuff is missing the point.

1.  ”Social Justice” becomes mainstream

One of the most exciting things about the past decade is that social justice has become mainstream in many Christian circles and communities where caring for the “least of these” is now seen as part and parcel of living a life of faith.  However, this rise in popularity comes with some drawbacks.  ”Social justice” is considered by many academics and practitioners to be a society with more equality of opportunity and equality of outcome than exist in most societies.  It often includes such “radical” ideas as progressive taxation, income redistribution, and property redistribution.  These days, in many cases, the term has been co-opted and stripped of its power.  Social justice is often simply a catch phrase and a pre-requisite for judging the authenticity  of a person’s faith or ministry.  In the coming decade we must regain a true definition of social justice and the radical changes it asks of us.