Social Justice – an open access collection

Human Rights Day is commemorated every year on 10 December, marking the anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the global commitment it represents.

For 2025, the theme ‘Human Rights, Our Everyday Essentials’ invites us to look at how human rights shape how we navigate our daily lives – often in ways we may not always notice.

We’ve curated a new open-access collection that highlights these everyday connections, bringing together titles that explore how social justice influences education, culture, policy and lived experience.

To offer a glimpse of what’s available in the collection, we’ve selected five free-to-access eBooks that explore different perspectives on how social justice and human rights shape everyday life.

1. Sports and Human Rights by Véronique Boillet, Sophie Weerts and Andreas R. Ziegler (eds.)

This edited volume brings together legal, ethical and sociological perspectives to examine the impact of human rights on sport at every level. The chapters explore issues such as discrimination in women’s sport, barriers faced by minority athletes, online abuse and freedom of expression, highlighting how rights influence sport both on and off the field.

Drawing on a wide range of approaches, the volume offers students and researchers a broad entry point into the human rights issues emerging across modern sport, making it useful across law, sociology, politics and sport management.

2. Education for Social Justice: The Meaning of Justice and Current Research by Nicholas M. Michelli, Tina J. Jacobowitz, Stacey Campo and Diana Jahnsen

In education, ideas of justice and human rights come into focus through the everyday practices of teaching and learning. Using current research and classroom experience, this collection explores equity, inclusion, citizenship and the role of teachers in creating fair and supportive learning environments.

A mix of conceptual chapters and real classroom examples keeps the discussion grounded and accessible. Together, they make this a useful resource for faculty, curriculum designers and students exploring equality, participation and the sociology of education.

3. Sustainable Development Goals and Human Rights by Markus Kaltenborn, Markus Krajewski and Heike Kuhn (eds.)

Bringing together academics and international practitioners, this volume examines issues of poverty, health, environmental protection, governance and inequality.

Through contributions that include papers presented at the conference and chapters that develop its discussions further, the volume provides a cross-disciplinary view of how global policies impact everyday essentials like water, housing and food security.

The breadth of the volume makes it a valuable reference for students and staff across law, public health and politics, particularly where teaching connects global policy to lived experience.

4. Justice and Human Rights in the African Imagination: We, too, are humans by Chielozona Eze

Centred on how justice is imagined and lived in postcolonial Africa, this book offers an alternative to Western-centric narratives.

Eze explores intertwined struggles such as ecological violence, social and intimate injustice, disability, homophobia and misogyny, showing how African writers, artists and activists articulate visions of dignity, community and restorative justice.

Drawing on fiction, memoir, film and cultural analysis, the book shows how questions of justice are expressed through storytelling, symbolism and cultural memory. The focus on African voices and cultural expression makes it a valuable text for those looking to diversify reading lists and broaden perspectives on human rights.

5. Léa Roback: Quebec Social Justice Activist by Tara Goldstein

Human rights are often advanced by ordinary people doing persistent, everyday work, and Léa Roback’s life is a powerful example of that in practice.

Written by her great-niece, this biography traces Roback’s work as a trade union activist, pacifist and feminist in Quebec and Berlin. Her commitments to movements such as workers’ rights, feminism and anti-fascism show how solidarity and collective action shaped both her life and the communities she supported.

By grounding broader social justice themes in one activist’s story, it offers useful context for students in history, sociology, gender studies and labour studies.

To access our new collection, please contact your Kortext Account Manager for more information. 

You don’t have to be an existing Kortext customer to benefit from our Open Resources Collection. To find out more, talk to us today.