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Terms: Sizeism, Social Justice, Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), Systemic Racism
Sizeism
Definition:
“A system of oppression that produces social and physical barriers based on the size of one’s body, specifically weight, height, or both. Different cultures have internalized attitudes towards certain sizes, and depending on where one is in the world, someone may be considered especially tall, short, or fat.” Anti-Oppression Network
Sources:
Resources:
Sizeism is a health hazard: Fat Studies.
Impact of weight bias and stigma on quality of care and outcomes for patients with obesity
Social Justice
Phonetic Pronunciation: soh-shuhl juss-tiss
Definition:
Social justice is used to describe the view that every individual deserves equal rights, opportunities, and fair treatment, regardless of their background. It seeks to dismantle systemic barriers that marginalize or exploit specific groups, ensuring an equal distribution of wealth, privileges, and resources across society.
History:
The term social justice was first used by a priest, Luigi Taparelli d’Azeglio, who was particularly concerned with social problems arising from the industrial revolution. He saw individuals as members of various levels of society, each of which was deserving of respect and should cooperate with one another.
Current Usage:
The values encompassed in social justice are associated with numerous philosophies and religions. Nowadays, the term is associated with concepts of human rights and equality and is used to justify a variety of forms of justice, such as procedural justice, restorative justice, and substantive justice.
Examples:
Situational: “The implementation of fair funding across school districts ensures that students in under-resourced neighborhoods have equal access to advanced classes, technology, and updated facilities. It utilizes the social justice perspective that every person is worthy of access to the environment that will allow them to thrive, regardless of their financial status”
Sentence: “Universal access to quality healthcare and education is considered a fundamental social justice issue by human rights organizations”
Perspective:
Social justice is commonly understood as both a general good and a necessary condition for creating peaceful and sustainable societies. It is based on the idea of each person having an inherent worth and that each of these people deserve to be supported so they can not only meet the bare necessities of life but thrive and flourish.
The variety of ideological, political, and cultural groups in the world makes social justice a fundamentally contested term as each group holds their own views on what makes a society fair. International social justice movements, such as those from the United Nations, are challenged to merge these conflicting ideas without infringing on the freedom of culture and religion.
Did You Know?
The World Day of Social Justice has been celebrated annually on February 20th since 2008.
Sources:
(1) https://news.un.org/en/story/2025/02/1160301
(2) https://www.plecanada.org/ple-theory/social-justice/
(3) https://scholarship.law.tamu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1091&context=lawreview
Resources:
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
Phonetic Pronunciation: suh-STAY-nuh-buhl dee-VEL-uhp-muhnt gohl
Definition:
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet, and to ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity. These goals were adopted by the United Nations in 2015, and the due date for these goals are in 2030 (1).
History:
The origin of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) can be traced back to earlier international development efforts. In 1992, the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), also known as the 'Earth Summit', was held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. At this conference, 178 countries adopted Agenda 21, which is a comprehensive plan of action to achieve sustainable development in the 21st century (2).
In 2000, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were adopted to guide global efforts to reduce extreme poverty by 2015. Then, at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio +20), international discussions on sustainability were held to set goals that build on the MDGs (3). These discussions led to the creation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are more inclusive and connected to sustainability than previous development efforts. Additionally, this framework recognizes that sustainability is a global issue that requires shared responsibility and collaboration to progress (4).
Current Usage:
There are 17 Sustainable Development Goals in total; each is supported by targets and indicators to help measure progress. While each goal focuses on a key development issue, all SDGs are intended to work together (5). The term SDGs is used by governments, schools, universities, NGOs, businesses, and local communities. The progress of the SDGs is monitored by the United Nations, and they hold the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) annually to follow up and review the 17 goals (6).
Examples:
Sentence example: To achieve global sustainability, the SDG framework should be embedded in all levels of governance.
Situation example: The government implemented a national school feeding programme to increase school enrollment and attendance, reduce malnutrition among children, reduce inequality, and increase employment opportunities in the local communities (7). This program addresses Sustainable Development Goals 2 (zero hunger), 3 (good health and well-being), 4 (quality education), 8 (decent work and economic growth), and 10 (reduced inequalities)..
Perspective:
The Sustainable Development Goals were agreed to be reached by 2030; however, Malekpour et al. (2023) note that our progress towards the SDGs has been slowed or reversed in recent years. This is largely a direct result of government inaction. The SDGs are not legally binding; therefore, governments’ accountability remains weak. A review of national budgets in 74 countries shows that only 13 had integrated SDGs into budget lines or allocations (8).
Did You Know?
Only 16% of the SDGs are currently on track to be met by 2030.
Sources:
(1) Sustainable Development Goals
(2) United Nations Conference on Environment and Development
(3) The 17 Goals
(4) History of SDG
(5) What is SDG?
(6) High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development
(8) What scientists need to do to accelerate progress on the SDGs
(9) Only 16% of SDG Targets on Track to Be Met by 2030, Report Finds
Resources:
Systemic Racism
Phonetic Pronunciation: si-STEM-ik RAY-siz-uhm
Definition:
Systemic racism is used to describe how racism functions at a societal level. This refers to how racism is embedded into law, institutions, language, educational practices, and much more. The ideas and beliefs that are written and unwritten into our laws and public practices not only cause but continue the unfair treatment and oppression of racialized people.
History:
The term was first introduced by Stokely Carmichael and Charles V. Hamilton in their book “Black Power: The Politics of Liberation”, where they write that systemic racism can be harder to identify as it comes from established and respected social actors.
Current Usage:
Today, systemic racism is studied in an effort to reduce oppression. British Columbia has created a new anti-racism action plan for 2026-2028 that aims to address the barriers to accessing government services that racialized people experience. This plan was informed by the Anti Racism Data Act that focused on collaborating on legislation with Indigenous and racialized communities.
Examples:
Situational: In a practice called “resume whitewashing”, studies find that changing the name on a resume from distinctly racialized to white or non descriptive increased the number of callbacks by 15%. This shows how a marker of race, a name, can influence job opportunities which then impacts a person’s finances and ability to grow in their career.
Sentence: The organization implemented new policies and practices to address concerns about systemic racism and to ensure equal opportunities for all employees.
Perspective:
A dominant understanding of systemic racism is that it is an interconnected and deeply embedded form of racism in the structure of our economic and social systems. By acknowledging the difference in how people of colour are treated and calling out these inequalities, we can challenge beliefs and practices that maintain systemic racism.
A secondary understanding of systemic racism is that it simply does not exist. People argue that differences, such as educational attainment can be attributed to one culture valuing education more than another. Others say that success or failure is driven by individual efforts and decisions, and is not influenced by social systems.
Did You Know?
Race is not an innate or biological category. It is rather an idea constructed by society based on geographic, historical, political, economic, social, and cultural factors.
Sources:
(1) https://courses.lumenlearning.com/wm-ushistory2/chapter/understanding-systemic-racism/
(3) https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2026AG0032-000635
(4) https://antiracism.gov.bc.ca/data-act/
(6) https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8282043/
Resources:
(2) https://www.amnesty.org/en/what-we-do/discrimination/racial-justice/