School (in)justice: is the classical concept of education democratization cornered?

Abstract

This work aims to examine classical and contemporary perspectives on school that pursue equality of opportunities and school meritocracy. Based on the assumption that the concepts of justice and school justice revolve around certain conceptions, we primarily used two theoretical approaches. The first of them is based on John Rawls' (1921-2002) thinking, particularly concerning the notion of justice as equity. The second theoretical approach is that of Michael Walzer (1906-1981), an author who advocated the idea of a complex equality in society, with education as one of its spheres of justice. Next, we examine the notion of injustice, based on the reflections of Barrington Moore Junior (1913-2005), which are built from a thorough study of the social and historical conditions where moral outrage is most intensely expressed over the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and the reflections of François Dubet (1946-), who relies on extensive qualitative research to examine the feelings of injustice arising from the conflict between the principles of equality, merit and autonomy. It is within the frame of such discussions that the disillusion with educational policies oriented to education democratization becomes more radical, and injustices become more evident, less tolerated and announce the necessity to build a just school.