ABSTRACT
The eclipsing of the social justice discourse in education by one increasingly based on the neoliberal ideology of the market is a reflection of deep-seated changes that are going on in contemporary societies as they are drawn into processes of globalisation and increasing privatisation. In the discussion on education and social justice in India and the United Kingdom, this chapter focuses on the ‘vernaculars’ of globalisation in two countries that share a historical past as also contemporary linkages. The increasingly differentiated systems of education, the spread of for-profit schooling and tight controls and accountability structures and standardised assessment practices that schools are being drawn into have grave consequences for the purposes of education and social justice. The middle classes have been seen to access the lion’s share of opportunities that have come with the new economy, using education as a key cultural resource.
