Social Justice in Shetland’s Fire Festivals, and the role of Public Sociology
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Date
2022-07-26
Authors
Johnson, Karl
Citation
Johnson, K. (2022) ‘Social Justice in Shetland’s Fire Festivals, and the role of Public Sociology’, Karl Johnson’s blog. Available at: https://www.qmu.ac.uk/campus-life/blogs/staff-karl-johnson/social-justice-and-up-helly-aa.
Abstract
In 2018, four schoolgirls had their application to participate in the junior spin-off of a famous cultural event rejected by a group of adult men, re-igniting long-held tensions in the Shetland Isles. As an islander concerned with the future progress and prosperity of my home, and as a public sociologist at QMU, I joined a local grassroots activist group to try to help tackle a local problem of inequality.