ABSTRACT
The aim of this chapter is to argue for the continuing salience of the idea of social justice for democratic politics. This view may now be regarded as rather quaint: first of all on the economic liberal right in politics which has adopted Hayek’s view that social justice is an illusion and that a politics built upon it is a fatal conceit; secondly on the contemporary Left there are assumptions shared with the neo-liberals as well as views about the nature and responsibilities of government which do not fit at all well with a positive commitment to the idea of social justice. The first part of my argument will be in essence a statement and critique of the ideas of Hayek and the New Right in respect of social justice. This does mean unfortunately the repetition of some arguments I have developed elsewhere, but this is unavoidable since this critique underpins the rest of my argument.
