Reconfiguring social justice: hegemony and the performativity of educational accountability in Pernambuco

Abstract

This article analyzes education policy in Pernambuco through the category of social justice, drawing on Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe’s Discourse Theory and Stephen Ball’s notion of performativity. It is assumed that, within the scope of public policies, social justice is not a fixed concept but an empty signifier that acquires contingent meanings in hegemonic disputes. The aim is to understand how social justice has been reconfigured in the educational field, particularly through the incorporation of practices of accountability, results-based assessment, and performance metrics. The study relies on documentary analysis of regulations and reports from the Pernambuco Department of Education and Sports, examining how official discourse displaces social justice from a political dimension to a technical one. The theoretical framework articulates the notion of hegemony and empty signifiers with the logic of performativity, understood as a discursive regime that imposes constant evaluation and accountability as mechanisms for legitimizing educational practices. The analysis indicates that the term social justice assumes multiple meanings, oscillating between a reference to social rights and an emphasis on measurable outcomes, inscribing itself within an always contingent discursive struggle.