Social justice terms

The system of oppression that disadvantages people with disabilities and advantages people who do not currently have disabilities. Institutional structures, social norms, and individual beliefs and behaviors function collectively to maintain the status quo that excludes people with disabilities from full and fair participation.

The action of undoing a system, institution, or practice. Abolition often centers on eliminating prisons, jails, police, courts, surveillance, and borders. Abolition seeks to create a system that is rooted in dignity, care, and accountability rather than relying on punishment.

The proactive and reactive ways in which individuals and communities hold themselves and others responsible for goals, processes, and actions. This centers the principles of ownership, responsibility, transparency, and commitment.

A person who actively, intentionally, and continuously challenges oppression at all levels of our community. This includes blocking or impeding oppressive policies, programs, and practices. Accomplice fight alongside and take direction from people who directly experience oppression.

A group that is intentionally created for those who share an identity to convene for learning, support, and connections. Ex. An affinity group based on racial identity may be exclusively comprised, respectively, of People of Color, white people, people who hold multiracial identities, or people who share specific racial or ethnic identities.

African Nova Scotians are a distinct people who descend from free and enslaved Black Planters, Black Loyalists, Black Refugees, Maroons, and other Black people who inhabited the original 52 land-based Black communities in that part of Mi’kma’ki known as Nova Scotia.

An identity/experience that describes a person who identifies as having no gender or who does not experience gender as a primary identity component.

A person who builds their relationships to oppressed group through a commitment and effort to recognize their privilege (based on gender, class, race, sexual identity, etc.) and work in solidarity for justice, reconciliation and/or liberation. Allies understand that it is in their own interest to end all forms of oppression, intentional, overt, and consistent responsibility for the change-making.

A form of racism that attempts to both void Blackness of value, while systematically marginalizing Black communities and their experiences. Beneath this distinct form of racism is the covert structural and systemic racism which categorically predetermines the socioeconomic status of Black peoples and communities in Canada. The structure is held in place by anti-Black policies, institutions, and ideologies.

The active, intentional, and continuous work of opposing racism by advocating for changes in political, economic, and social life. Anti-racism seeks to both disrupt and dismantle all values, assumptions, attitudes, actions and structures which promote racism and white supremacy.

An anti-racist is a person whose values, beliefs, attitudes and actions align with disrupting and dismantling racist policies and institutions. This includes the expression of ideas that racialized peoples have inherent dignity, worth and self-determination, and supporting policies that reduce racial inequity.

Discrimination towards and/or hatred of Jewish people, Judaism and Jewish culture. Antisemitism has deep historical roots and uses exploitation, marginalization, discrimination, and violence as its tools to oppress.

An identity/experience that describes a person who experiences little or no romantic attraction to others, and/or lacks interest in forming romantic relationships. Aromantic people may still have intimate relationships.

An identity/experience that describes a person who does not experience sexual attraction toward individuals of any gender.

A designation that refers to a person’s biological, morphogical, hormonal and genetic composition. A person’s sex (male, female, intersex) is assigned to a child at birth and is most often based on the child's external anatomy. This is commonly abbreviated as AFAB (assigned female at birth) or AMAB (assigned male at birth).

The process in which people and groups are encouraged, coerced and/or forced to adopt the culture, values, and social behaviors of the dominant culture. This often mean shedding or hiding aspects of one’s own identity and experience.

An identity/experience that describes an person whose gender identity aligns with the sex assigned to them at birth.

A system of oppression that disadvantages people based on social class or perceived social class. Policies and practices are designed to not only benefit more class-privileged people at the expense of the less class-privileged people. Stigma is used to distinguish less class privilege-people as being immoral, incapable, lees productive and less deserving.

The ways in which people think and act that perpetuate oppression or prevent others from working to eliminate oppression.  

Example: Non-disabled people who object to strategies for making buildings accessible because of the expense.  

The invasion, dispossession, dislocation and domination of a territory and it’s original inhabitants. The invasion may or may not involve military occupation but still uses various forms of violence to secure the subjugation of land and peoples. This violence is often legalized, normalized and invisibilized. The ongoing dispossession and legacy of colonialism is institutionalized inequality.

The process that 2SLGBTQIA+ peoples go through as they work to accept their sexual orientation or gender identity and share that identity openly with the people around them. This process is complex, contextual and often, life-long.

A way of thinking that asserts that ending discrimination merely requires treating individuals as equally as possible, without regard to race, culture, or ethnicity. By overlooking the cumulative and enduring ways in which race unequally shapes experiences, this actually reinforces and sustains an unequal status quo.

The standard in which white skin is seen as being normal and ideal. This form of oppression allocates privilege and favor to those with lighter skin colors and disadvantage to darker skin colors. Colorism exists both within and across racial and ethnic groups.

The intellectual ability for people and groups to identify, analyse, act in ways that address inequality and injustice.

The inappropriate process of adopting cultural elements—including symbols, art, language, beliefs, practices etc.—for one’s own personal gain (financial gain, social status, etc.). This it most likely to occur when people lack the understanding, acknowledgement, or respect for its place/value in the original culture. This is rooted in the assumption that it is the dominant culture’s right to take and own another group’s cultural elements.

The ability to learn about and understand another culture’s language, customs, beliefs, and patterns. Depending on the context, this approach may or may not be appropriate. While well-intended, this approach may lead to stereotyping and people assuming an “expert” role.

An ongoing process of self-exploration and self-critique combined with a willingness to learn from others with humility. It centers cultivating relationships with others where their beliefs/customs are honoured, differences are acknowledged, and people are accepted and valued for who they are.

The ability to adapt and thrive in groups of diverse people. This includes understanding different perspectives, building relationships, collaborating and communicating effectively with people with different identities and experiences.

A sense of understanding, purpose and custom that is developed by a group of people to ensure survival. These groups are distinguished by a set of unspoken rules that shape values, beliefs, habits, patterns of thinking, behaviors and styles of communication.

The system of oppression that promotes the subordination and mistreatment of young people and elders based on age through the restriction and denial of opportunities to exercise social, economic, and political power. This includes restricted access to goods, services, and privileges of society, along with loss of voice and limited access to participation in society. Young people and elders are marginalized and excluded by practices that give middle-aged adults the power to act on and for them, often without their agreement or consent.

The learned ability to recognize and deeply connect with another person’s stories and/or experience. Through active listening, the person is able to establish a common understanding and emotions that expand beyond feeling sympathetic or pity.

To treat everyone fairly. An emphasis on equity seeks to distribute proportional resources, opportunities, and rights across individuals and groups, taking into deep consideration structural factors that create and perpetuate inequity. This may result in an unequal response.

Equity means that everyone is given the resources that they need to succeed. Equity often appears unfair, but it actively moves everyone closer to success by “leveling the playing field.”

A social construct that divides people into smaller social groups based on characteristics such as shared sense of group membership, values, behavioral patterns, language, political and economic interests, history, and ancestral geographical base.

Examples of different ethnic groups are: Haitian, Chinese, Peruvian, African Canadian, Irish, Māori, Vietnamese, Dene, Cuban, Argentinean, Sudanese, Inuit, Egyptian and Swedish

The tendency to view your own society or culture as superior and the standard by which other societies and cultures should be judged.

A range of public health approaches that emphasize education and prevention rather than pathologizing, criminalizing, and/or punishing potentially unsafe activities, both legal and illicit. The harm reduction model allows an individual to determine whether they want to stop or change a behavior and may be applied to various scenarios, including (but not limited to) recreational drug use, self-injury, intimate partner violence and sexual activity.

An organization whose goals and activities intentionally seek to incite hatred, exclusion and violence against certain groups on the basis of race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion, etc. This group will center their claim to superiority to justify the devaluing of human rights.

The assumption that everyone is heterosexual, and that heterosexuality is superior to all other sexual orientations. This includes the often implicitly held idea that heterosexuality is the norm and that other sexualities are “different” or “abnormal.”

Discrimination or prejudice against anyone who does not conform to binary gender norms based on the assumption that heterosexuality is the normal/ideal sexual orientation.

An identity/experience that describes a person who is primarily emotionally and physically attracted to people of the other binary gender. For example, women who are primarily emotionally and physically attracted to men. Also referred to as straight.

Discrimination towards, fear, stigmatization, marginalization and hatred of lesbian and gay people, or those who are perceived as lesbian or gay.

An identity/experience that describes a woman who is primarily emotionally and physically attracted to other women.

The creation of relationships, societies, communities, organizations, and collective spaces characterized by equity, reciprocity and wellbeing. This centers the implementation of systems for the allocation of goods, services, benefits, and rewards that support the full participation of each human and the promotion of their full humanness.

An identity/experience that describes a person who do not subscribe to the gender binary. They might exist between or beyond the man-woman binary. Some use the term exclusively, while others may use it interchangeably with terms like genderqueer, genderfluid, gender nonconforming, gender diverse, or gender expansive. It can also be combined with other descriptors (ie. nonbinary woman or transmasc nonbinary). It is sometimes abbreviated as NB or enby.

An identity/experience that describes a person whose gender identity is comprised of many genders or falls outside the typical social parameters that define gender.

An identity/experience that describes a person whose emotional, romantic and/or physical attraction is inclusive to of all people across a spectrum of gender.

An historically based, institutionally perpetuated system of oppression in which those assigned male, or those exhibiting characteristics that have been associated with being male, hold ultimate authority and privilege. This includes being the primary beneficiaries of political leadership, moral authority, and control of property and requires the subordination, exploitation and marginalization of women.

Often the preferred collective term for referring to non-white racial groups. It is an inclusive and unifying frame that seeks to disrupt white supremacy culture by decentering whiteness and more accurately depict the size, scope and power of racialized peopled in contrast to the word “minority”. It’s very important to remember that lumping all of these groups together into one category can be a form of erasure. If you’re discussing a particular group, groups, or person, refer to the group by specific identity.

Individuals with disabilities encompass those whose daily activities may be restricted by a long-term condition or health-related issue. The aim is to collect information on the type and severity of disabilities, exploring diverse topics to provide valuable insights into the social and economic well-being of this group.

For regulatory reporting, individuals with disabilities face chronic, long-term, or recurring physical, sensory, mental, intellectual, or learning challenges. When coupled with barriers, these challenges hinder their full and effective participation in society. This group includes individuals whose functional limitations, due to their challenges, have been accommodated in their current job or workplace using technical aids, adjustments to equipment, or other necessary modifications.

The ability to direct, influence and/or impose on the beliefs, behaviours and experiences of others. Power give both people and institutions the ability to:

• Name or define what something is or should be
• Makes decisions that affect the lives of others
• Set/change the rule, standard, or policy
• Influence others to make choices in favor of your cause, issue, or concern

A pre-judgment and/or negative attitude that one individual or group has towards another. Such negative attitudes are typically based on unsupported generalizations (ie. biases, stereotypes) that deny their right to be recognized and treated as dignified and deserving human beings.

A form of unearned and unequal power given by formal and informal institutions to ALL members of a dominant group. This may take the form of a right, immunity, benefit or advantage given to an individual or group beyond what is available to others.

Examples of privilege include: white privilege, straight/heterosexual privilege, cisgender privilege, Christian privilege etc.

A social construct that was designed to define and justify the categorization of people based on their perceived difference to whiteness and white people. Some of these racial categories have changed over time.

A person’s awareness and experience of being a member of a racial and/or ethnic group. The identity that a person chooses to describe themselves may be based on factors such as: heritage, physical appearance, cultural affiliation, place of origin, and/or early socialization.

Any action undertaken for reasons of safety, security or public protection that relies on stereotypes about race, colour, ethnicity, ancestry, religion, or place of origin rather than on reasonable suspicion, to single out an individual for greater scrutiny or different treatment. Age and/or gender can influence the experience of profiling.

Racialization is the very complex and contradictory process through which groups defined and categorized as being of a particular “race” and on that basis subjected to differential and/or unequal treatment. This process is often rendered invisible or normative to those categorized as white. As a result, white people may not see themselves as part of a race but still maintain the authority to name and racialize “others.”

Racialized persons, excluding Indigenous Peoples, are those historically and contemporarily defined as non-European in race and/or non-white. This definition is based on factors such as appearance, ancestry, culture, ideology, and/or place of origin. They reside in predominantly white cultures, irrespective of their place of birth or citizenship.

The system of oppression that seeks to define, categorize, disenfranchise, and dehumanize disadvantages racialized peoples and advantages people who are white and/or people who support white supremacy culture. Central to racism is one group having the power to carry out systematic discrimination through institutional policies and practices, and by shaping the cultural beliefs and values that support those racist policies and practices.

A critical, complex, and continuous process of working in solidarity with Indigenous peoples and communities by:

• Honouring treat relationships
• Acknowledging and respecting Indigenous rights and title
• Participating in the return and stewardship of the land
• Learning about/from historical and ongoing violence through truth-telling
• Disrupting anti-Indigenous racism in our person, professional and political lives
• Respecting Indigenous people’s autonomy, culture, and vision for the future
• Supporting the reclamation of identity, culture, language, and nationhood
• Building healing relationships to ourselves, the land, animals, and each other
• Decolonizing and indigenize our ways of knowing, being and doing 

A system of oppression that subordinates religious groups and spiritualities based on non-Christian beliefs, affiliations or traditions. In the Canadian context, this includes Buddhists, Hindus, Jews, Muslims, Sikhs, Indigenous spiritualities, and those who are atheists, agnostics, or freethinkers.

Initiatives that seek to address the harms caused by these historical and ongoing oppressive violence against marginalized groups. They can take the form of compensation, rehabilitation and/or a commitment to change the underlying causes of abuse. Reparations publicly affirm that victims are rights-holders entitled to redress.

A theory and practice of justice that emphasizes repairing the harm caused by crime and conflict via emphasizing individual and collective accountability. It places decisions in the hands of those who have been most affected by a wrongdoing, and gives equal concern to the victim, the offender, and the surrounding community. Restorative responses are meant to repair harm, heal broken relationships, and address the underlying reasons for the offense.

The practice of doing something to prevent criticism or give the appearance that someone or something promotes equity and inclusion. This is a form of a microaggression.

Examples:

• Inviting marginalized peoples (particularly those who are visibly different) to a group only for the purposes of demonstrating diversity
• Recruiting marginalized peoples to leadership positions but not redistributing power and respecting their decision-making
• Appointing marginalized peoples to lead equity initiatives without compensation, resources and power
• Using marginalized peoples to be a spokesperson and shield for when confronted about inequity

A theory and practice for responding to violence, harm, and abuse. It seeks to respond to violence without creating more violence and/or engaging in harm reduction to lessen the violence. Transformative justice co-creates interventions that:

1) do not rely on the state (ex. police, prisons, the legal system, foster care system, etc.)

2) do not reinforce or perpetuate violence (ex. punishment or vigilantism)

3) actively cultivates the things we know prevent violence such as community, healing, accountability, resilience, and safety for all

An identity/experience that describes a person whose gender identity does not align with the assigned sex at birth. It is also used as an umbrella term to describe groups of people who transcend conventional expectations of gender identity or expression.

“Trans” is often considered more inclusive than transgender because it includes transgender, transsexual, transmasc, transfem, and those who simply use the word trans.

Discrimination towards, fear, marginalization and hatred of transgender, nonbinary, and gender nonconforming people or those perceived as being trans. This discrimination is rooted in within systems and is a form of oppression.

An approach to utilizing policies and practices which center understanding, recognizing and responding to the effects of all types of trauma. This approach seeks to promote a culture of safety, support, choice, collaboration, trust, empowerment, and healing for all those within a space.

An umbrella term which reflects complex understandings of gender roles, spirituality, sexuality and gender diversity in Indigenous cultures. There are many definitions and understandings of Two Spirit, and each is nation specific. Broadly, it describes the identities and experiences of an Indigenous person whose mind, body and spirit embodies multiple and fluid gendered energies. This interconnects gender identity, gender expression, and/or sexual orientation.

Discrimination towards, fear, marginalization and hatred of immigrants or those perceived as being immigrants, foreign and/or non-citizens. This discrimination is rooted in within systems of White supremacy and is a form of oppression.