What is justice?
This was my absurdly large research question during my four month stay in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Early on, knowing an independent study project was the initial purpose of my travel, I started to ponder what my topic would be. My thoughts were heavily mixed, wanting to ask my big philosophical question while wishing I had some clear concrete passion to pursue. I thought to myself, why am I not more angered about environmental issues? Why can’t I just jump on the anti sex-trafficking train or write about Argentina’s recent dictatorship? Nothing seemed to excite me – I felt guilty and directionless. I had high goals of contributing something new to something relevant through something good. (Could we get more vague?) Every professor and peer kindly reminded me: “you’re only an undergrad…” “you need to have a decade of experience to write that sort of paper…” “can we narrow it down? You only have 4 weeks to complete interviews.” Despite being reluctant to these statements and having my undergrad head in the clouds, I landed somewhere concrete. And I am thankful that I did.
Well, if you got past my prelude, here is what became my research project and lead to my new understanding of what justice is.
Despite Argentina recently being one of the five richest countries in the world we are finding a new trend developing in Buenos Aires. In this city of nearly 3 million people a “sweatshop” culture has been emerging to fund fashion for the “Paris of Latin America.” Sure enough, I found myself in a new field, a developing area of research. Check. Also, I could feel the passion swelling and the interest growing. Finally a conflict that I desired to understand, an injustice I wanted to explore and investigate and a field which I could concretely contribute to.
So I began to ask questions, read articles and talk to people – sweatshop workers, owners, professional and academics. I found out quickly of the fiery past of Argentine “sweatshops” – which they refer to as “talleres textiles” (less negative connotation). These talleres are home (literally – they often live in these shops) to a large amount of immigrants from nearby countries seeking to climb the social latter and better the lives of their kids through hard manual labor – think 25,000 undocumented workers putting in over 16 hours a day (that’s the equivalent of the University of Oregon student population working twice the hours of a U.S. full-time employee!) In 2006 we have a taller that catches on fire in Buenos Aires and 6 Bolivians die, locked in, unable to escape the flames. This awakens the city to an underground issue. Cue the nonprofits, specifically one, La Alameda, an organization of Argentines wanting to help Bolivian workers escape “slave-like conditions” and fight for their rights that are clearly theirs under Argentine law. In absence of state action to enforce the wonderfully “ideal” treaties guaranteeing immigrant rights and protecting foreigners, the nonprofit sector has stepped in. for justice. But what is justice? To keep my contextual explanation simple, the Bolivian workers have begun to revolt against the state and against the nonprofits, some have protested their working conditions by lighting themselves on fire while others have sought to burn down La Alameda to state their disapproval with their closure of the talleres “for justice.” Workers don’t want the nonprofits to “save” them. Nonprofits, academics and professionals in the community don’t want workers “exploited” – workers don’t identify as “exploited” and are thankful for the work opportunities they find in this metropolitan material mecca.
What a web. What a mess. So I stepped in. Studying the situation under two opposing mentors did anything but clarify the situation. One mentor, a social worker in the Bolivian community who believes that it is a part of Bolivian culture to work more hours, to live and labor in community and accepts the injustice of it all– the other, a leading Argentine scholar and researcher in the department of labor, self-proclaimed Marxist who desires to break the logic of “the latter” enforce the laws and inform the workers of the exploitation they unknowingly endure. Working with both of these mentors I constantly felt pressure to “pick a side.” Yet I ended the process with a very neutral approach. “Neutral,” in this case, does not mean apathetic, or indecisive, or uncertain. It really just means real. Realistically frustrated and unwilling to make a sweeping conclusion about what is right, how to execute it and who to believe.
No, don’t get me wrong, I strongly believe there is right and wrong. Truth has a capital “T” for me, and Justice follows suit. Yet, in this ideological battle I can’t claim a stake in the solution. Yet. Probably never (this is probably what they meant about me being an undergrad). But for now I have more questions for the future, I have a deeper desire to observe which ideology will win: will nonprofits enforce their vision of justice? Will workers maintain their system endless workdays, purchasing machines, hiring others and climbing the latter under capitalists and corporations? Will the government physically enforce the standards they agree to in writing? Observing is so passive, yet I wonder with a sincerity and desire to hear the unheard voices and to write their words and their responses to share a dialog of frustration and confusion, of tension and intentional inclusion. But for today, from far away I conclude:
Justice is not so simple.
Justice, in a multitude of ways, comes down to how we help. Personal application out of the intellectual exploration…. So what do I advocate for? Where do I place my activist zeal and energy? Where do donate my resources? Who do I side with in this sweatshop debate, where do I aim my fire and publicly shame on my twitter and facebook accounts?
Justice is not so simple. It is too real for your virtual rebukes and too complicated for your 140 character catchphrases.
I certainly don’t dare give up or leave the conversation as another defeated enthusiast, deflated philanthropist or disappointed do-gooder. I won’t leave this situation without hope. Never. Instead, I desire that you – after following me through a mental circus – will not heave an exhausted sigh and turn to a happy TV show or to your instagram feed to relieve the weight of it all and forget the frustrating facts… but rather, that you will press in deeper. Be unsatisfied. Ask questions. Understand first, maybe you can talk later. Understand people before you talk at them about what is just. Explore, investigate. But avoid doing so disconnected and distant from those you “study” – no, no, don’t study people. Know them. Hear them. Soak in their days, challenges, their “wins” and their “losses” – your assumptions will probably surprise you, they will jump out at you and you will be so embarrassed at your ignorance. But HOLD ON. do not stray far from a standard of justice. Injustice is there. It hunts down the dependent and weak. Do not sink into a postmodern acceptance or allowance of an open definition of “what is right for you” or cultural norms trumping universal values. No, suffering exists, injustice creeps in the shadows of poverty and affliction and it plays in the daylight while the blind enjoy their luxuries. Please…CRAVE JUSTICE. Crave it enough to discover it. Daily. and rediscover. It is a labor of love.
Philosophy & Philanthropy For The Suffering Traveler 