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Together For A Just World

The Crisis of Social Justice in an Age of Wealth

Hamza ÖKSÜZ
Abstract

“Today’s world has reached an unprecedented level of economic capacity,
generating wealth on a scale never before witnessed in human history. Yet at
the same time, millions remain trapped in precarious employment, billions
lack adequate social protection, and inequality continues to deepen. This
contradiction is not accidental; it is directly linked to how global economic
transformation is governed. Despite the strong rhetorical commitment to
social justice across international platforms, its persistent absence reveals
a fundamental reality: the problem is not merely one of implementation, but
of policy orientations that fail to confront the structural roots of inequality. In
this sense, World Social Justice Day should not be understood merely as a
symbolic moment of awareness, but as an opportunity to critically examine
why social justice remains unrealized.”

Humanity is currently experiencing one of the most productive periods in its
history. The global economy generates record levels of wealth, technological
innovation is rapidly transforming production processes, and digitalization
continues to open new economic horizons. Yet simultaneously, billions re-
main excluded from adequate social protection, in-work poverty is becoming
entrenched in many regions, and income inequality continues to widen. This
contradiction is not incidental; it refl ects the ways in which global economic
transformation has been structured and managed.
The issue is not a lack of global wealth; rather, it is the increasingly narrow
political space within which decisions about how that wealth is distributed
are made.
The systematic decline of labour’s share in income despite rising productivity,
the failure of economic growth to benefit broad segments of society, and the
institutionalization of precarity are key outcomes of prevailing global econo-
mic orientations. Over the past four decades, policy frameworks prioritizing
cost competitiveness and market fl exibility-when not balanced by strong la-
bour standards and social protection-have intensified inequality. As economic

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