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The State, Schooling and Identity pp 193–212Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

Justice in Education in the Nordic Countries: Perspectives, Challenges and Possibilities

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Part of the book series: Education Dialogues with/in the Global South ((EDGS))

Abstract

Nordic Education Acts promote the value of justice and equal educational opportunities for all and the education systems in these countries are often described as the most equitous and socially just in the world according to recent OECD rankings. However, there is a question mark as to whether such an accolade is fully deserved. This is the main concern of the present chapter, which suggests that the justice that the Nordic countries are claimed to develop is questionable, both at the level of theories of justice and their assumptions, and in terms of practices and outcomes. Fraser’s notion of a critical theory of recognition has been of importance in the analysis behind the chapter along with several important neo-Marxian concepts.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Education and Special Education, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden

    Dennis Beach

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  1. Dennis Beach
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Correspondence to Dennis Beach .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Helsinki Institute of Behavioural Sciences, Finland

    Kari Kantasalmi

  2. University of Helsinki Institute of Behavioural Sciences, Nordic Centre of Excellence ‘Justice through Education’, Finland

    Gunilla Holm

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Beach, D. (2017). Justice in Education in the Nordic Countries: Perspectives, Challenges and Possibilities. In: Kantasalmi, K., Holm, G. (eds) The State, Schooling and Identity. Education Dialogues with/in the Global South. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-1515-1_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-1515-1_10

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  • Online ISBN: 978-981-10-1515-1

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