From Charity to Justice

The authors synthesize what has been learned from the two-issue series of American Behavioral Scientist on universities' responses to troubled times. They argue that educators and community leaders should channel the vast resources of volunteerism toward social change for a more just society and discuss ways that service-learning endeavors contribute to this process. They contrast the current state of higher education with a vision of a transformed institution they think preferable to the status quo and then focus on the difference between charity and social justice. Through service learning, acts of charity—which typically end up reproducing the status quo—can facilitate the politicization of students and help them to become active promoters of a more just society. Six questions are posed to assess the extent to which community-based education or research endeavors engage in charity or facilitate social justice.