The use of blockchain continues to spread, empowering change and growth across an array of industries. We’ve already taken a look at several that are benefiting from blockchain technology or are looking into the possibilities, and today we’re focusing on Social Justice – the equal distribution of opportunities and resources within system that are invariably rooted in inequality.
Simply put, because of its distributed nature, blockchain is particularly well-suited to pair with the community focus of various social justice movements. Rather than contribute to conditions that promote seclusion, inequality and conflicts, blockchain has the ability to empower a sharing economy that has the potential to help ensure the inclusion of all in economic prosperity.
Blockchain’s potential for interoperability could cultivate a collaborative environment between multiple social justice movements, enabling them to easily and securely share resources, education, and information. Additionally, in modern capitalist societies around the world there are serious problems with inequality, income disparities and consistent income, and blockchain could very well pave the way for a collaborative economy.
When it comes to the fight against surveillance, especially when it’s government-sponsored, anonymity is imperative. These days, an individual’s movements are fairly easy to track via EBT, credit, or debit card transactions, but the anonymous-yet-transparent nature of public ledgers could actually help prevent this type of surveillance of marginalized groups and vulnerable communities.
Some of the top innovators that are looking at the benefits of blockchain for social justice movements include:
- Blockchain for Social Justice — a collective of social justice minded individuals from various sectors coming together to support the development of blockchain projects that serve the most vulnerable. They believe that cryptocurrency is a tool of economic sovereignty and to ensure that it’s used as such, efforts must be made to reclaim its purpose.
- Global Blockchain Business Council — Focused on building commercial, educational, and civic alliances that support the needs of their members.
- Cryptoslate’s E-coin Project — Utilizing blockchain for energy conservation and as an inter-communal financial system to trade food and clothing.
- World Food Programme’s Building Blocks Project — As of October 2018, more than 100,000 people residing in camps redeem their WFP-provided assistance through the blockchain-based system. At the United Nations Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan, refugees are using a blockchain system integrated with biometrics to secure and track World Food Program supplies
The future is now for digital currencies and blockchain in the social sector. The question is not “when will these tools transform the space?” In fact, they already are.
