Social justice : meanings and politics

Now that the main British political parties are committed to the ideal of social justice the political debate will focus on its meaning(s) and how and through which institutions it is best achieved. This article discusses key dimensions of social justice – conceptualised as distributional and recognition claims – with particular reference to poverty, inequality, disability and the perceived tension between diversity and solidarity in the welfare state. The second part provides an overview of a number of social justice issues below and above the (nation) state, moving from the domestic, through the neighbourhood, the devolved administrations and Europe, to the global.