Social (in)justice on the margins of paid work: Misrecognition,maldistribution and the employment of people with learning difficulties

Abstract

People with learning difficulties are being denied social justice in their everyday encounters with the labour market. Using concepts developed by Fraser, we argue that this denial of social justice arises from a combination of maldistribution of resources and misrecognition of people's equal humanity and their right to dignity and respect. Drawing on qualitative interviews with 16 people with mild learning difficulties on the margins of paid work, we show how maldistribution and misrecognition interact in complex ways to undermine the effectiveness of available support and to cause significant harm. We demonstrate how these effects are linked a wider failure of social justice, affecting disabled and non-disabled people. This wider failure is a consequence of government policy, the structure and regulation of the labour market and the design and delivery of social security.