Longing for Justice: Higher Education and Democracy’s Agenda by Jennifer S. Simpson (review)

Higher education has long been considered a public good, with the definition of public good being defined – or presumed – variously by individual colleges and universities. Yet, definitions and discussions of what it means to serve the public good remain tacit. In Longing for Justice, Jennifer Simpson shines a light on issues of social justice, power, and the public good in relation to undergraduate education in North America, because “in North America, we never live outside of democratic contradictions and aspirations” (p. 214). The book explores the relationship between three primary questions: What is the nature of the social contract that universities have with public life? What is the “subject” of a given course or discipline? And, in what ways do specific epistemological frameworks inform constructions of the social? (p. 6). The depth to which these questions are explored is the true strength of the book.

The book consists of seven chapters. Each chapter begins with an example from the author’s experience that leads in to a discussion related to the guiding questions as the author explores what is included and whose lives are represented through curriculum. Simpson reminds us that the examples we use, the subjects we define, and the content included in courses and curriculum heavily affect students’ ways of knowing, understanding, and seeing the world and their place in it.

The first chapter provides the basis for the rest of the book through several examples, which are also drawn upon in later chapters, that illustrate examples of and discussions about injustice. Simpson explains, “Our primary starting points and assumptions, and the ways in which we conceptualize and present course content, profoundly shape what students learn, as well as students’ capacities and desires in regard to imagining the relationship of self and other” (p. 6). The examples provide a starting point for the conversation on assumptions that are brought to the table and their deeper significance. Throughout this chapter and the rest of the book, Simpson challenges us to consider our own responsibility and the existing structures that may ignore issues of injustice, democracy, and the social good.

Chapter 2 centers around the social contract and focuses on two primary issues: How does higher education understand its obligations to the communities in which we live? Given these obligations, what are the ends of undergraduate education? (p. 45). This is one of the most important chapters in the book as it explores the often conflicting expectations placed on colleges and universities and how they navigate those complex relationships. Simpson noted an important assumption at the beginning of this chapter: “At their best, colleges and universities in North America will encourage in students a willingness to consider the material conditions of people’s lives, an active sense of their own agency in relation to effective change, an ability to link knowledge with power and practice, and an imagination for the public good” (p. 45). This is perhaps an idealistic view of the ends of undergraduate education, but Simpson’s ideal underscores her exploration of the literature regarding higher education and its social contract, critiquing its lack of depth and specificity in regard to what the social contract includes, its ethical priorities, and how it connects to democracy.

Discussion about the social contract and ends of undergraduate education continues in Chapter 3 through the exploration and critique of the literature on civic engagement and service learning. Simpson questions whether service learning is geared toward what students will gain as individuals or whether it is concerned with justice and the institutional structures that may cause injustice, noting that a focus solely at the individual level does not address issues of institutional power and injustice. She notes that instructors must gear this type of learning toward the practice of being fully engaged and concerned with justice. Service learning experiences should ideally be situated in disciplinary knowledge and include analysis of institutional...