From Social Critique to Social Action in Transnational Art: Challenging Structural Injustice

Abstract

Seeking to dismantle structural injustice, political theorist Iris Marion Young proposed the «social connection model», a theory developed with a world increasingly in need of transnational frameworks in mind. Awareness of this need is also reflected in contemporary artistic practices, which often investigate manifestations of structural injustice such as the climate crisis, sexism, racism or wars. Alongside Young’s model, this article explores two transnational artistic projects engaged in social critique and social action. The selected initiatives deal respectively with mass deportations by the Soviet Union, and with migration between Eastern and Western Europe. We argue that these artistic practices embody the principles of Young’s social connection model. The results that validate the claim are found in achievements such as rendering white privilege visible or activating a restorative collective memory.