CFP: Educational Justice: Philosophical Perspectives

Over the past decade, the concept of educational justice has become a central category of educational and political thinking. Although the term is employed frequently by theorists, researchers and members of the public alike, much of its denotational and normative content remains underexplored. The conference committee therefore welcomes proposals that seek to contribute to greater conceptual understanding of educational justice and its many theoretical and practical dimensions. Potential presenters might consider the following questions in preparing their proposals.
- Do educational norms and rights simply follow from general theories of justice, or does educational justice constitute a unique, context-specific form of justice that cannot be subsumed under general theoretical accounts?
- Should certain (non-ideal) aspects of the current educational system be incorporated into our theories of educational justice? More generally, how might we pay due attention to the non-ideality of the educational system in ideal theorizing about educational justice?
- How should theories of educational justice accommodate children’s still
developing capacity to self-determination and responsibility? What
counts as just educational treatment of minors?
- How might the concept of educational justice be placed with respect to theories of
distributional justice, participatory justice, and relational justice? Does it belong under one or the other, or does it suggest an alternative form of justice?
- Do theories of educational justice primarily guide institutional practices or rather
pedagogical action? Does it imply concrete norms that might be used to qualify
educational environments as “educationally just” or “educationally unjust”?
- How should the various issues present in European versus Anglo-American politics
impact theories of educational justice? Should the emphasis on issues of privatization and unequal school financing present in the Anglo-American discourse be carried over into the European context? Or are there more pressing questions that the European theorist must address—for example, the selection and exclusion of minorities and minority languages by the state? In general, how are we to understand the relationship between educational politics and politics writ large?
Many of these questions remain unanswered because the idea of educational justice has not received the philosophical attention it deserves. For this reason, the conference committee welcomes proposals that bring the lens of philosophical inquiry to any of the above questions, or the general topics they raise. Proposals of a maximum 400 words should be sent as a separate email attachment (.doc, .docx or .pdf) to [email protected] by 11:59 pm on January 1st, 2018. The attached file should contain, in addition to the abstract, the name and address of
the author(s) as well as the title of the proposal. Successful proposals will be considered for ublication as a book chapter in a collection following the conference. The conference committee will accept abstracts for the following types of presentations:
- Individual presentation
- Symposia
- Workshops
Individual presentations will be given a slot in a parallel session, during which they will have time to present their ideas and address questions thereafter. Symposia are to be composed of 3 to 5 participants, who should each address a common topic from a different perspective. Workshops can have up to 3 participants and provide them with an opportunity to present some of their still developing ideas on a topic of their choice and lead session attendees through a discussion. The purpose of the workshop is to create an interactive atmosphere for thinking through important issues of educational justice. Symposia and workshop proposals can use up to 400 words per participant. The proposal type should be clearly indicated in the proposal. Authors will benotified of the committee’s decision to accept or decline the submission by January 20th, 2017.