The new online journal Justice Unbound features four papers by students affiliated with San Francisco Theological Seminary and the Graduate Theological Union, and an introduction by Dr. Carol Robb, SFTS Margaret Dollar Professor of Christian Social Ethics.

The papers were originally written as part of Robb’s “Theories of Justice” seminar. The required course reading was the work of contemporary theorists of distributive justice, such as John Rawls and Michael Walzer, among others. The seminar papers used the history of land grab from indigenous people as the lens through which to assess the usefulness of these theorists.

Justice Unbound commemorated Human Rights Day, Dec. 10, by focusing on human rights for indigenous people, using the SFTS student papers to highlight this issue. The United States signed the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in 2010, providing more impetus for the nation to reflect on the treatment of Native American peoples.

Robb said it’s important to note that academic work by SFTS and GTU students is directly relevant to a wider audience.

“This edition of Justice Unbound is valuable, as in addition to the articles about specific land rights efforts, it provides links to the Declaration plus a historical survey of mission and ministry with Native American peoples and the PC(USA) Native American Churchwide Policy Statement,” Robb said. “Readers will find lots of opportunity to reflect on how to open dialogue with first nation peoples with a view to remembering the past, and considering what integrity requires of non-native people in light of that past.” 

To read the SFTS student papers and the introduction by Robb, go to http://bit.ly/vNOrl4.