Understanding Social Justice: Conceptual and practical discussion on social justice in the development cooperation of Fida International
Lehtimäki, Tuomo (2024)
2024
All rights reserved. This publication is copyrighted. You may download, display and print it for Your own personal use. Commercial use is prohibited.
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-202404217134
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-202404217134
Tiivistelmä
Tuomo Lehtimäki
Understanding Social Justice: Conceptual and practical discussion on social justice in the development cooperation of Fida International
63 Pages
Spring 2024
Diaconia University of Applied Sciences
Master of Social Services
MA degree in Global Change and Community Development
This thesis work arose from the observation that the words social justice emerge in various contexts. Social justice theories are by nature political, but the words are being used in various other contexts as well, for example in development cooperation organizations. This thesis aimed to study how social justice is understood in one such organization, Fida International.
The aim was to determine how the management-level personnel of Fida understand the term and how that can be seen in practice. It was further studied in what ways this understanding relates to existing social justice theories.
The data consisted of development cooperation program documents provided by the organization and interviews. The material was analyzed making use of content analysis.
The major results can be summarized as follows. Social justice is understood to be based on human dignity regardless of any background factors. The basis for this human dignity arose from the creation according to the Christian belief. The practical implications of this understanding were advocacy on behalf of disadvantaged and changing structures. Findings were also found in the existing theories presented in the study.
It can be concluded that even though the meaning of social justice was not visible in the documents it was clear to the respondents. The findings of this thesis can be used in discussions with the owners of the organization to create mutual understanding pertaining to the need for development cooperation alongside other work done by Fida International.
Keywords: Social justice, Development cooperation, Faith
Understanding Social Justice: Conceptual and practical discussion on social justice in the development cooperation of Fida International
63 Pages
Spring 2024
Diaconia University of Applied Sciences
Master of Social Services
MA degree in Global Change and Community Development
This thesis work arose from the observation that the words social justice emerge in various contexts. Social justice theories are by nature political, but the words are being used in various other contexts as well, for example in development cooperation organizations. This thesis aimed to study how social justice is understood in one such organization, Fida International.
The aim was to determine how the management-level personnel of Fida understand the term and how that can be seen in practice. It was further studied in what ways this understanding relates to existing social justice theories.
The data consisted of development cooperation program documents provided by the organization and interviews. The material was analyzed making use of content analysis.
The major results can be summarized as follows. Social justice is understood to be based on human dignity regardless of any background factors. The basis for this human dignity arose from the creation according to the Christian belief. The practical implications of this understanding were advocacy on behalf of disadvantaged and changing structures. Findings were also found in the existing theories presented in the study.
It can be concluded that even though the meaning of social justice was not visible in the documents it was clear to the respondents. The findings of this thesis can be used in discussions with the owners of the organization to create mutual understanding pertaining to the need for development cooperation alongside other work done by Fida International.
Keywords: Social justice, Development cooperation, Faith