The third edition of the International Conference of the journal “Scuola Democratica” (June 3-6, 2024, University of Cagliari) is devoted to the needs and prospects of education and/for social justice.

Never before has the theme of social justice been so crucial. This is the case of economic instability spreading from country to country, wars and consequent energy shortages, the climate crisis and resulting demand for a new economic policy of transition to a viable ecological model, migration and its backlash of nationalist protectionism, the protests by women and younger generations in many parts of the world—and many more so. Educational processes—in their broadest meaning which embraces school, university, and training and is targeted towards young as much as adult people—are not unaffected by these challenges. They rather demand choral reflection on the purposes, stakes, setbacks, and achievable futures of education. Indeed, educational poverty and inequality have always been both the cause and effect of social, cultural, and territorial ones. Therefore, it becomes increasingly important today to rethink and put into practice new ideas of justice and educational policy on local, national, and supranational scales. Theoretical reflections and empirical analyses (qualitative and quantitative, large-scale, or focused on specific contexts) that aim at identifying the plurality of factors that contribute to producing inclusion/exclusion, equality/inequality, and recognition/non-recognition of diversity—in other words, social justice and injustice, are warmly welcome.

With this edition, Scuola Democratica and the conference partners aspire to confirm and exceed the success of its First International Conference (2019) and its Second International Conference (2021).

To find out more about the general frame of the conference, please consult the full introduction to the conference.