Degree Name

MA in Social Justice in Intercultural Relations

First Advisor

Janaki Natarajan

Abstract

Work toward the collective movements for liberation has proven to be a difficult task for those who have chosen to dedicate their lives and work to make social change. A close examination of the non-profit industrial complex and the connections with the prison-industrial complex will enable social change agents to better articulate the ways in which we can move forward toward a more just world. The question central to my research asks: Is prison abolition necessary for social justice? To answer this question I will use an analysis of the non-profit industrial complex to explore how a social justice institution, such as World Learning, can achieve their mission and vision and be funded by the same foundations and corporations that fund the prison-industrial complex. To contextualize this theoretical analysis I examined data from SIT/World Learning and explained it through the theory of the non-profit industrial complex. I will focus on the current economic system of masked imperialism, global capitalism, which inhibits movements from formulating successful strategies of resistance, transformation and transcendence.

Through this examination, I conclude that social justice is incompatible with the logic of capitalism, thus questioning the source of funding to organizations such as SIT/World Learning in contradiction to its goals. I hope to show contradictions within SIT/World Learning and urge the graduates from that institution to examine and transform the way in which we think about our collective work for social justice.

Disciplines

Arts and Humanities

Download

Share

 
COinS