Women's Spirituality and Social Justice
The negative consequences of liberal individualism, for example, profit-making over care for others, and an emphasis on consumerism are reflected in many current social problems and are evident in a concomitant decline of social justice discourses. Today’s young women are the first generation of women to grow up under this dominant ideology.
This paper examines what facilitates women’s resistance to dominant values in our society, from the perspectives of women who attend places of worship. It considers how women respond to the challenge of these changing social values by focusing on the questions: What is the ‘shape of faith’ in women who are oriented to social justice, and what characterizes the socio-demographic and faith communities where women have an orientation to social justice? It also considers what the intergenerational differences in women’s orientation to social justice may be, including what is diverse about these women, and what they hold in common. How much is the social justice commitment of women who attend places of worship played out in terms of acts of individual care and concern, and how much around social activism? The current paper explores these questions for women in Australia and discusses the implications of these findings for contemporary debates on social justice.