Justice Lab

Why justice? 

We believe that justice – in its social, racial, economic, gender, environmental, and other forms – is central to achieving the health and well-being of all. Research and teaching supported by the Justice Lab (J-Lab) focus on these diverse aspects as they play out in communities in California and around the world. We engage actively with communities in the formation, implementation, and application of research in mutually respectful and beneficial way. We continuously and critically reflect on our own practice to improve its ethical and practical impacts. We are an inclusive community of learners and teachers dedicated to building and applying knowledge to support human and non-human flourishing. 

We take inspiration from Black feminist scholar Belle Hooks, who reminds that us that,

“The academy is not paradise. But learning is a place where paradise can be created. The classroom, with all its limitations, remains a location of possibility. In that field of possibility we have the opportunity to labor for … an openness of mind and heart that allows us to face reality even as we collectively imagine ways to move beyond boundaries, to transgress. This is education as the practice of freedom.”

From radical Brazilian educator, Paolo Freire we ground ourselves in the understanding that, “Liberation is a praxis: the action and reflection of men and women upon their world in order to transform it.”