Social Justice Imaginaries and Education Policy in Aotearoa New Zealand (2017–2024)

Abstract In this article, we continue Martin Thrupp’s critical work in education policy in Aotearoa New Zealand by examining the policies of the Sixth Labour-led Government (2017–2023) and the Sixth National-led Government (2023-present). We consider their attempts to mitigate social injustice via education policy and the social imaginaries that underpin such efforts. Our conceptual framework draws on Nancy Fraser’s tripartite analysis (redistribution, recognition, participation), the contributions of education policy scholars who have built upon her work, and others who offer alternative framings of social justice. To contextualise our analysis, we provide a historical account of the discursive shift from equality to equity in New Zealand education policy and the recent transition by the Left from the ‘Third Way’ (Giddens, The third way: The renewal of social democracy, Polity Press, 1999) to ‘progressive neoliberalism’ (Fraser, American Affairs 1:46–64, 2017, Fraser, The old is dying and the new cannot be born: From progressive neoliberalism to Trump and beyond, Verso, 2019). Examination of selected education policies by the most recent Labour and National governments reveals that, despite equity infusing the rhetoric of both governments, their actual policies have consistently adopted affirmative responses aimed only at ameliorating inequality’s most visible effects. We conclude with a call for more intentionally transformative efforts in education based on holistic conceptions of social justice.