How to think better about social justice : why good sociology matters

Summary: "Those who are pursuing social justice too often fail to incorporate the insights of sociology, and when they do make use of sociology, they often draw heavily from claims that are highly contested, unsupported by the evidence, or outright false. This is a shame because learning to think sociologically can help us to think better about social justice. Sociology can point us to possibilities for social change, but it also calls attention to our limits. It can provide us with hope, but it should make us cautious. Any vision of social justice rooted in sociology, then, would likely place a high value on intellectual and moral humility. Classical liberalism can offer normative and institutional support for this kind of social justice, so despite the attacks on liberalism that have come from both the right and the left in recent years, we should hesitate to abandon it if we really want to make the world a better place"-- Provided by publisher