ABSTRACT
There is a recognised need to focus on issues of social justice in higher education, due to continuing inequalities in the field of education generally, and more specifically in higher education. Various academic texts have been written using Nancy Fraser’s work to examine social justice issues, particularly her writings on redistribution, recognition and representation. This chapter proposes Nancy Fraser’s work, as a political philosopher and critical theorist, is particularly apt to consider these issues. It presents selected aspects of Fraser’s most work, on the capitalist crisis in the 21st century, focusing on the introduction of an ecological dimension into her work, as well as the concepts of transformative politics and abnormal justice. Fraser traced feminism’s gradual turn away from its post-World War II alignments with broader, ‘anti-imperialist New Left’ movements. Neoliberalism and its associated discourses of managerialism have resulted in fundamental shifts in the way in which higher education conceptualises, carries out and defends institutional purposes and practices.
