Guiding Questions

• What will justice look like in the next century?

• Can we build systems that prevent injustice — not just punish it?

• How do we imagine a fairer world before it exists?

Justice as an Evolving Idea

Justice is not a fixed destination.

It grows as societies grow — as we learn, reflect, and challenge what we once thought was “normal.”

In the past:

• Slavery was legal

• Women were excluded from lawmaking

• Colonization was justified

• People with disabilities were hidden away

• The environment had no rights

In the future:

• What will we look back on with shame?

• What changes will seem obvious to the next generation?

Reimagining the Foundations

Tomorrow’s justice may not rely on police, prisons, or punishment.

Alternatives already being explored:

• Restorative justice: Focuses on healing rather than punishment

• Transformative justice: Addresses root causes, not just symptoms

• Decarceration: Replacing prisons with prevention, education, and support

• Digital ethics: New rights for a new age — data, identity, privacy

• Ecological justice: Laws that protect future generations and the planet itself

Philosophical Voices Looking Forward

Angela Davis

Advocates prison abolition and reimagining justice without punishment: “What if we abolished the conditions that lead people to harm each other?”

Jacques Derrida

Said justice is always “to come” — something we strive toward, not fully possess.

Achille Mbembe

Argues for a planetary ethics — a justice that transcends race, nation, and history to imagine humanity as a shared destiny.

A Thought Experiment

A child is born 100 years from now.

They grow up in a society where there are:

• No prisons

• No police violence

• No poverty

They read about our time in their history books.

What will they think of our “justice system”?

What questions will they ask about what we accepted?

Signs of Emerging Justice

• Youth-led climate movements

• Global calls for racial truth and reconciliation

• New legal rights for nature in countries like Ecuador and New Zealand

• Experiments in basic income, universal healthcare, and open education

• AI ethics councils demanding fairness in design

Justice doesn’t come all at once.

It begins as imagination — and grows through action.

Reflect and Discuss

• What does a just future look like to you?

• What parts of today’s justice system should we leave behind?

• What bold ideas are worth fighting for — even if they seem impossible today?

Suggested Readings

• Angela Davis – Are Prisons Obsolete?

• adrienne maree brown – Emergent Strategy

• Achille Mbembe – Critique of Black Reason

• Nick Srnicek & Alex Williams – Inventing the Future

• UN – Future Generations and Intergenerational Justice