Inclusive Education, Globalization, and New Philosophical Perspectives on Social Justice

Abstract

Abstract This chapter aims to uncover the theoretical and normative assumptions underpinning the “inclusive education” framework, as promoted by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. We examine it from a twofold perspective: social theory and theories of justice. We argue that it bears the mark of the social grammar of globalized and reflexive second-modernity societies. The analytical potential of three approaches of social justice (redistribution, recognition, and capability-approach) is then explored to address the social justice issues emerging from this new configuration. Whereas the redistributive approach in terms of equal rights and opportunities is renewed, the recognitive perspective highlights new claims of interpersonal respect, rights, and social utility; and the capability approach echoes the emphasis put on talents and potentialities and on real freedom to accomplish oneself through social participation. These approaches can therefore be envisaged as complementary analytical tools echoing the semantics of the inclusive education framework but also as a useful critical apparatus for its normative assessment.