State Responsibility for Fostering Participation and Social Justice. Some Reflections on Policies for Low Skilled Adults in Portugal and Italy

Abstract

This article aims at discussing the state responsibility concerning educational rights as a framework to problematize issues of social justice on two national contexts of South Europe with an expressive vulnerable adult population concerning qualifications. We supported our analysis of national ALE public policies on Tomasevski (2001) theoretical and analytical framework that focuses on the accomplishment of the right of education by national states. Research goals are to analyse and compare ALE as a human right in the context of both states obligations, and to qualitatively evaluate selected national policies as fostering participation and social justice. This article responds to the follow question: what are the national policies that contribute to express ALE as a human right and why? It presents the scenarios obtained through Tomasevski model and point out to interesting differences between Portuguese and Italian cases.