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Joy and Justice

When faced with the reality of suffering that our lives cause, we could feel guilty; we could shrug our shoulders and become anesthetized to others’ pain; or, we can act. In this essay, philosophical perspectives from existentialism and contemporary feminism will be examined to study how working to correct the worst forms of injustice creates the conditions for joy, justice, and peace. In particular, I will focus on Judith Butler’s understanding of grievability and precariousness and Simone de Beauvoir’s understanding of joy to show that acting in solidarity with those who are exploited brings about joy rather than guilt, bitterness, or apathy. This theoretical framework will then be applied to the research that I did in Brazil as part of Catholic Relief Services’ Scholars in Global Solidarity. While there, I was part of a group that examined the conditions of slave labor that contribute to the production of consumer goods for the world market, I met with government and church officials to map strategies to combat the problem, and I visited areas of Brazil known for these problems. By understanding the connections between ourselves as consumers and those who are forced into labor we can change our frameworks of knowledge so that we actively acknowledge suffering and vulnerability in order to maximize the conditions for human flourishing.