ABSTRACT

Based on the notion of individuals having a common interest in a share of the good life, ideas relating to social justice can be found in Aristotle's conception of justice shared among the community in his work politics. By contrast, the relational dimension of social justice is holistic, rather than individualistic. It is essentially concerned with the nature of interconnections and relationships between individuals in society — not the goods and services an individual may receive. It is helpful these days to consider social justice in relation to education in its distributive and relational forms. In the school setting it is, of course, linked to bullying, a pernicious mainstay of education systems. In sum, determining the meaning of social justice as linked to left-wing politics — and ensuring the voice of the left — is, for some, important on grounds of wishing to avoid violence against others and social justice for every person, not just elites.