In this paper, I shall focus on the exploration of economic and cultural experiences and perceptions of inequalities and their effect on representation. The particular focus will be set on the way interviewees attempt to interrogate, justify, explain, criticize or accept experiences and/or perceptions of inequalities. I aim to explore the loci of their appreciation, micro or macro social in an attempt to identify whether representation is perceived as local, national and/or global. On a more abstract level, the paper aims to challenge ideas of social cohesion expressed through the notion of active citizenship by utilizing an understanding of social justice articulated through Fraser’s concepts of redistribution, recognition and representation. Even though the terms are not synonymous and intellectually identical; when discussed in parallel, the hope is to offer an epistemological insight on research focusing on inequalities. The paper draws empirically and theoretically from a LLAKES research project on experiences and perceptions of inequalities. Our project is investigating perceptions of inequality and their effect on social cohesion via active citizenship. Our research utilizes both quantitative and qualitative methods. The data derive from different educational settings (e.g. lower and upper secondary, higher education) in five countries.