Uniya: Jesuit Social Centres

Uniya - Jesuit Social Justice Centre

CONTENTS

Spring 1995

Jesuit Social Centres
In April and May, Peter Hosking SJ visited Jesuit Social Centres in India, the Philippines, Indonesia, Taiwan, Japan and Korea.

Asia Brief

The Jesuits have an excellent structure for international research and action. Worldwide, the 25,000 Jesuits are divided into 10 Assistancies of about 10 Provinces each. Typically each Province includes 250 Jesuits and a range of apostolates.

It is helpful to link local experiences of injustice with competent social analysis and theological reflection.
Many of these apostolates are staffed by Jesuits and lay or religious partners, who work close to the struggle of the poor and are in contact with experts in social welfare and policy. The Jesuits' structures have great potential for networking to promote justice, touching many levels of society and church.
In practice, Social Centres can become preoccupied with local and national issues. Yet increasingly, global communications and economic forces impact on issues at home. For instance, many Centres have direct experience of issues concerning migrant workers, human rights abuses, child labour, tribal struggles, suppression of workers' organisations, forced movement of peoples, ecological degradation, and oppressive political regimes. All emphasise the importance of NGO networks and partnerships in working for change.

Some Centres are concerned that the WTO and other trade agreements lack any strong social charter, focusing instead on trade and economic development. Common concerns are that:

economic development is increasingly about market profits rather than workers' rights;
cultural minorities and indigenous persons are vulnerable to land dispossession by mining and logging companies;
the environmental effects of mining and agri-business are severe;
women are discriminated against in almost all sectors;
forced migration of refugees and asylum seekers continues;
internal migration and rural-to-urban drift are evident;
international contract workers are often abused; and
welfare services suffer from attacks on the public sector.

Jesuit Social Centres are pressing for international checks to ensure that economic development occurs in socially just ways. The United Nations Summits on the Environment and on Social Development affirmed the search for desirable development. Some Centres engage in research, publications and seminars on socio-economic matters.

Some Jesuit Centres educate leaders in social action, promoting cooperatives, credit unions, labour organisations and farmers' groups. The Indian Social Institutes in New Delhi and Bangalore and SEARSOLIN in the Philippines have trained many community development leaders.

Some Centres work in grassroots social action, some through training institutes and some in advocacy research. Some are academic in emphasis, others pastoral. Some lobby within church structures, others more broadly. There is some stress between those who work at local animation level and those engaged in large training centres or policy research. These tensions can be creative. Peter Hosking

Collaboration across countries can be difficult for Centres functioning at the grassroots, where the poor determine their own development model. Yet it is still helpful to link local experiences of injustice with competent social analysis and theological reflection. International solidarity and lessons shared may be critical elements in the changing of unjust realities.

Fr Peter Hosking SJ is the Director of Uniya.

Addresses of Jesuit Social Centres in India, the Philippines, Australia, Indonesia, Taiwan, Japan and Korea are available from the Uniya office for anyone who is interested in contacting or visiting the Centres. Maryann Keady has led Uniya's recent research and action on landmines.

Last modified: 9 Nov 1995.

Above material is from the Uniya Newsletter: used with permission.