Shared Workshop: Social Justice

Workshop 1: Social Graces and Social Justice in Action

Dr Mark Taylor

Findings from my recent systematic review reveal that while the Social Graces framework promotes reflexivity and awareness of different elements of social identity and power relations, the framework risks being applied in a static manner unless considered alongside other conceptual frameworks. Theoretical approaches such as semantic polarities (e.g. Kalaydjian et al. 2024) and intersectionality (e.g. Butler, 2015) help to illuminate the complexity of shifting and co-constructed relational positions. Shifting positions are linked to fluid and emerging social identities, which when we think about it, is what psychotherapy is all about. 

Family therapy graduates are expected to demonstrate a “commitment to anti-oppressive and culturally sensitive practices” by considering differences in relation to the Social Graces (Association for Family Therapy, 2015, p.10). A commitment to anti-oppressive and culturally sensitive practices are cornerstones of certain visions of Social Justice. Arguably, the Social Graces have not been considered sufficiently in relation to what Social Justice actually means, so this presentation considers the framework in relation to the two principal paradigms of Social Justice (Lister et al., 2024), namely distributive and relational. 

After reviewing the affordances and limitations of the framework in relation to these paradigms, I want to zoom in and consider the Graces through the lens of Nussbaum’s Capabilities (2011) approach, which offers a holistic vision of Social Justice, particularly in relation to human flourishing. This perspective shifts the focus from identity markers alone to the capacity for individuals and families to flourish within relational contexts. Like the Graces framework, the Capabilities framework is also considered a practical tool. By combining the Graces and Capabilities frameworks, a more flexible and context-sensitive approach is proposed that avoids reifying social categories while fostering therapeutic conversations that attend to the vibrations of power, voice, positioning and agency. 

Workshop 2: What is it Sustainability and Social Justice AFT Branch Officers do then? 

Ellen Twist

Rebecca Thackwray

Abi Jordan 

For the past three years, the three co-presenters have been working together at a local level (West Midlands AFT Branch Committee) to introduce new roles to the West Midlands AFT Branch; Sustainability Officers and Social Justice Officers. This has included presentations to the branch and a ‘branching out’ day where we took the conversation off the Zoom platform and into nature for a relaunching of the branch and an opportunity to review our shared values and future vision for it. We submitted an article to Context for the December 2025 special edition ‘Ecotherapy, Environment, Dystopian Futures’, which documents and reflects on our journey to date, and invites the wider systemic community to join us in dialogue exploring the intersectionality of ecological justice and social justice, and our responsibilities as systemic practitioners to our clients, one another, and wider society. An example of one of our activities on the branching out day was standing under the tree canopy in an inner city woodland discussing our branch ancestors and their legacy, whilst exploring how to make space for sapling trees (newer branch members) to be represented by the branch and within its offering to systemic practitioners in the West Midlands. In our workshop we would like to showcase our emerging and evolving dialogue and practice in relation to the Sustainability Officer and Social Justice Officer branch roles and to invite audience members into reflection with us about the meaning of these roles; what they might look like for our branch (and other AFT branches) going forwards . . .