Social justice, service delivery and welfare : reform the politics of deprivation, disaffection and education in the District of Thanet

Abstract

Thanet is the most deprived district in the county of Kent. The district's social topography is reviewed and contextualized within New Labour's education policy, and public service responses to social need in Thanet are considered. Preliminary attempts to integrate public service provision are described, and structural barriers that inhibit access to education services are revealed. Paterson's analysis of New Labour policy is modified and applied to explain the particular circumstances of the district, and a critique of the developing system of extended and full-service schools in the district is suggested. The type of social justice enacted in Thanet is located within a taxonomy of different styles of social justice, and the article shows how the emphasis on neo-liberal policies has embedded a strategic reorientation from equity-driven to competition-driven provision that results in an individualised concept of social justice. The article highlights the difficulty of reconciling choice and social justice and concludes that the social market in Thanet is not structured to deliver equity to the needy.