Restorative Justice as a Framework for Critical Service-Learning

In this paper, I argue that the theory and practice of restorative justice can be productive for critical service-learning pedagogies. Restorative justice emphasizes repairing the harms resulting from injustice and, as far as possible, restoring individuals and communities to the state they were in prior to being harmed. It emphasizes the participation of those affected by such harms, including both harmed and culpable parties, in restorative processes. Deeply rooted in indigenous worldviews and practices, restorative approaches have been increasingly incorporated into criminal justice systems, and extended to conflict resolution in various non-criminal contexts. But their potential for guiding campus-community engagement efforts is largely unexplored. This paper aims to address this lacuna, exploring how restorative justice might deepen and further the goals of critical service-learning, which aims to address concrete injustices and power imbalances in the communities where it is employed.