Revisiting
systemic
(in)justices
-About us-
We are
Systemic Justice
We are the movements’ law firm. We are the first Black-led, majority Black and people of colour (BPOC) organisation in Europe that works with community partners for racial, social, and economic justice through strategic litigation – that is, court cases that can help change law, policy or practice.
Nani Jansen Reventlow, Founder of Systemic Justice
We are here to open up space for communities, movements, and collectives to take power and use strategic litigation in their campaigns for change as ‘the movements’ law firm’
Community consultation timeline
March-July 2022
First community consultation
September 2022
Surfacing Systemic Injustices published
September 2023 - March 2024
Second community consultation
June 2024
Revisiting Systemic Injustices published
-First Community Consultation-
This report is a follow up to our
first community consultation
Surfacing systemic (in)justices: A community view, published in 2022. Now, as it was then, Europe is in crisis. As one community activist put it, “things are on fire”.
2785
OMCS
We have expanded our analysis of groups working on climate justice, access to justice, anti-racism, policing, social protection, and freedom of movement in Europe from 1,000 to nearly 3,000 organisations, movements and collectives (OMCs) from a broader range of countries;
19
Countries
40
1:1 interviews
6
thematic areas
Our consultation with community groups covers climate justice, access to justice, policing, social protection, anti-racism, and free movement.
-Findings-
Key findings
Local and community OMCs still doing much more
Compared to larger, more formal organisations, we found that local and community OMCs were tackling a wider and more complex range of problems faced by community members.
Governments are selling the lie of scarcity
Governments routinely claim that there isn’t enough to go around, and use this to justify discriminatory and restrictive practices.
The promise and seduction of technology
Artificial intelligence (AI) and other technologies are adopted to reinforce the exclusion of marginalised people.
Building knowledge and power using the law to secure systemic justice
OMCs remain reluctant to pursue justice through the courts. Just over one in ten OMCs use the law to tackle systemic injustices.
-What drives systemic injustice?-
What drives systemic injustice?
The context
In total, 40 community organisers, campaigners, and activists from 19 countries agreed to speak to us about the challenges they face and the harms they experience. We have organised these conversations into the themes of: climate justice, access to justice, policing, social protection, anti-racism, and free movement.
DID YOU KNOW?
Systemic Justice develops community-driven litigation campaigns with our partners to achieve change by leveraging the power of the courts.
-We thought technology was our friend-
We thought technology was our friend
The context
We look at the systemic injustices linked to the exploitation of tech. Throughout conversations, OMCs discussed how tech worsens harms experienced by racially, socially, and economically marginalised people.
DID YOU KNOW?
Systemic Justice works to radically transform how the law works for communities fighting for racial, social, and economic justice.
-What’s Next?-
Together with the many communities who have helped inform this report, we will use the courts to root out and dismantle oppressive power structures.