Introduction

This chapter argues that the greatest role the university can play towards social justice lies in its knowledge work. This means examining the knowledge and knowers considered legitimate by universities and challenging the assumptions, worldviews and interests that tend to underpin academic knowledge. The chapter examines the theories of justice developed by John Rawls, Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum and their relevance to universities. It considers how the knowledge goods offered by higher education can promote greater justice through enabling students and communities to develop in ways that affirm their identities and particular contributions to society. The chapter introduces the two main theoretical frameworks underpinning the book as, first, Fricker’s work on epistemic injustice, and second, the work of post- and de-colonial theorists who consider the colonisation and decolonisation of ways of knowing.