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From a Just Hope to a Just Wage Economy

by Daniel Graff and Clemens Sedmak Prof. Dan Graff is professor of practice in the Department of History and director of the Higgins Labor Program of the Center for Social Concerns at University of Notre Dame. He is the recipient of Notre Dame’s 2023 Rev. William A. Toohey, C.S.C., Award for Social Justice and won… Read more »

 

Peach and grey toned Working notes covered. An image of protesters sitting with masks on in front of a store asking to be paid a livable wage.

Editorial

The Just Wage Initiative is an interdisciplinary project based in Notre Dame University’s Center for Social Concerns. Working since 2017, and deeply rooted in the Catholic Social Teaching tradition, this initiative has established seven basic criteria which must be met to ensure a given wage is just. Developed between academics, employers, employees, and other stakeholders,… Read more »

 

Raising the Social Wage

Written by Dr. Laura Bambrick Dr Laura Bambrick is the Social Policy & Employment Affairs Officer at the Irish Congress of Trade Unions. Congress is the umbrella body for 46 unions and seven associate members, representing over 700,000 workers and their families, and the largest civil society organisation on the island of Ireland. Introduction The… Read more »

 

Just Transition and Representation of Farming in Ireland

Written by Prof. Patrick Brereton Prof. Patrick Brereton is an emeritus Professor at the School of Communications at Dublin City University. His most recent monograph was Essential Concepts of Environmental Communication: an A-Z Guide (London: Routledge, 2022) and he was one of the editors on the important Palgrave volume, Ireland and the Climate Crisis (2020).… Read more »

 

The Human Right to a Just Wage in a Global and European Perspective

Written by Professor Dr. Andreas Müller Professor Dr. Andreas Müller, LL.M. (Yale) holds the Chair of European Law, International Law and Human Rights at the University of Basel. His research focuses, amongst others, on international and European human rights law.   The core dimensions of the right to a just wage The right to a… Read more »

 

“Sewing” Justice: A Theological Response to Garment Worker Exploitation

Written by Céire Kealty Céire Kealty is a PhD candidate in Theology at Villanova University and freelance writer, exploring Christian spirituality, environmental ethics, and the global garment industry. Restless Distractions In his work Confessions, St. Augustine identifies a deep restlessness in every human heart. He insists that this restlessness finds its release in God;[1] advertisers… Read more »

 

Irish Travellers and Prison: Discrimination, Education, and Lateral Violence

Travellers are loose threads in the fabric of Irish society. They exist at the edges rather than being interwoven into the whole. This is often excused by settled people as being their choice, and even their fault. We have all heard about, and read about in the media, Travellers’ propensity to crime and disruption. But what we don’t hear about is Travellers’ struggles to exist and find their place in a society that was designed for a settled lifestyle.

 

Where Is My Mind: Traveller Accommodation and Mental Health

Many Travellers continue to live on sites such as the ones described above, motivated by a deep cultural yearning for proximity to kin, and for some it is preferable than to be placed in a house, in a hostile housing estate, many miles from anyone who knows them, cares for them or will support them. The family, including respect for the older generations and the celebration of marriage and children, is at the heart of Traveller culture. The importance of these values cannot be overstated, and in a context where Travellers find themselves excluded from mainstream services that the settled community take for granted, the safety of the family unit becomes ever more important.

 

Power Issues: Energy Poverty in Irish Traveller Communities

“I can’t afford to keep the place warm. The second the heater goes off it’s freezing, there’s no double glazing, no insulation. The children go to bed early with extra blankets, it’s the only way to keep them warm […] I sit up with a candle rather than turn on the lights because I can’t afford the electric.”

 

The Promise of Theology from the Edgelands

In the 1970s, James Cone shocked the church from its immoral slumber on racism by declaring that God is black. Horne reminds us that Christ is Traveller.