Relocating Social Protection within a Radical Project of Social Justice

This article argues that the theory and practice of social protection should be relocated within a project of social justice. However, different theories of social justice can and do shape social protection in different ways, and this article argues that a radical approach, which focuses on the relational basis of injustice, has more to offer than the conservative and liberal approaches that have tended to be influential in the field. However, with a radical notion of social justice as the primary reference point, it becomes clear that some forms of social protection may obstruct rather than promote social justice.