Educating for Democratic Consciousness: Counter-Hegemonic Possibilities (Critical Studies in Democracy and Political Literacy) - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 143311710X ISBN 13: 9781433117107

Publisher: Peter Lang Inc., International Academic Publishers, 2012

Synopsis

This book has received the AESA (American Educational Studies Association) Critics Choice Award 2013.
There is a widespread, but mainly untenable, assumption that education in Western societies (and elsewhere) intuitively and horizontally aids the democratic development of people. An argument could be made that in contemporary liberal democracies, education was never designed for the well-being of societies. Instead of the full inclusion of everyone in educational development, it becomes dominated by those with a vested interest in the role of the liberal state as a mediating agent that, ultimately, assures the supremacy of the capitalism and neoliberalism. This book extends beyond a theoretical analysis of democratic education, seeking to tap into the substantial experiences, perspectives and research of a wide range of leading scholars from diverse vantage points, who bring themselves and their work into the debate connecting democracy and education, which elucidates the reference to counter-hegemonic possibilities in the title.

About this title

About the Author:

Ali A. Abdi is Professor of Development Education and Co-Director, Centre for Global Citizenship Education and Research (CGCER) in the Department of Educational Policy Studies at the University of Alberta.
Paul R. Carr is Associate Professor of Sociology and Interdisciplinary Studies at Lakehead University (Orillia), and Co-Director of the Global Doing Democracy Research Project.

Review:

«At a moment in history when notions of democracy seem to be quickly vanishing from public educational debates, the collection of essays in ‘Educating for Democratic Consciousness’ arrives on the scene with both fresh insights and political fury! The result is a powerful, resounding treatise that revitalizes and expands our understanding of social consciousness and the inextricable role of an emancipatory education in the amelioration of oppression and the remaking of a just world.» (Antonia Darder, Loyola Marymount University)
«Today corporate state rhetoric about democracy is increasingly revealing itself to be a mask behind which some of the most egregious forms of human exploitation are taking place, in both Western and non-Western contexts. The time is ripe for a multidimensional reconsideration of the democratic ideal, especially in relation to the role of public education in creating a politically, socially and culturally aware citizenry, a citizenry now conscious of its globally interpenetrated character. Abdi and Carr are to be commended for bringing together here writers who not only sharpen the issues involved, but who also articulate new models for democratic possibility and educational change. A beautifully conceived and timely project indeed!» (David Geoffrey Smith, University of Alberta)
«Even as the fate of so many now hangs in the balance, the humanization of the world is a palpable dream being realized by critical educators on every continent. Ali Abdi and Paul R. Carr here contribute an important book that helps both to further seed and to model the type of 21st century paideia project that can inform a just, peaceful, and solidary planetary community. Those concerned with education for sustainability should walk awhile with this diverse, ferocious, reflective and moral collection of voices.» (Richard Kahn, Antioch University Los Angeles)
«This book is not only timely but should become essential reading for anyone at all concerned with ‘the democratic project’. From the clarion call of noted democracy scholar Daniel Schugerensky in his Forward, to the range of chapters from leading education advocates, thinkers and activists, this book reviews from a critical perspective various movements and arrangement around our globe that are attempting to move beyond the ‘thin democracy’ of electoral and party politics, to a more ‘thicker democracy’ of transformative learning and action.» (David Zyngier, Monash University)
«Abdi and Carr’s edited text does a fantastic job of deconstructing the often misleading tenets of democracy as both ideology and political construct. Not only do the authors within the text construct a devastating critique of democracy regarding education, government, the economy, and civic engagement, they explore possibilities for solutions. Pre-K-adult educators will find this work valuable as well as relevant for a variety of fields.» (Faith Agostinone-Wilson, Aurora University)
«What is the purpose and value of education in the construction of our collective well-being? Abdi and Carr bring together a powerful group of scholars who provide a range of thought-provoking responses to this question. Their intellectual engagements highlight joys, difficulties and possibilities within the field of education conceived as a discipline wrestling with competing and uneven social forces, and with questions of relevance in increasingly more complex, uncertain, pluralistic and unequal societies. This book is a significant contribution to the efforts to construct, in the words of the editors, ‘a more meaningful, critically engaged, socially just educational experience (that) counters the prevailing whims of the day (and of history)’.» (Vanessa de Oliveira (Andreotti), University of Oulu, Finland)

«At a moment in history when notions of democracy seem to be quickly vanishing from public educational debates, the collection of essays in ‘Educating for Democratic Consciousness’ arrives on the scene with both fresh insights and political fury! The result is a powerful, resounding treatise that revitalizes and expands our understanding of social consciousness and the inextricable role of an emancipatory education in the amelioration of oppression and the remaking of a just world.» (Antonia Darder, Loyola Marymount University)
«Today corporate state rhetoric about democracy is increasingly revealing itself to be a mask behind which some of the most egregious forms of human exploitation are taking place, in both Western and non-Western contexts. The time is ripe for a multidimensional reconsideration of the democratic ideal, especially in relation to the role of public education in creating a politically, socially and culturally aware citizenry, a citizenry now conscious of its globally interpenetrated character. Abdi and Carr are to be commended for bringing together here writers who not only sharpen the issues involved, but who also articulate new models for democratic possibility and educational change. A beautifully conceived and timely project indeed!» (David Geoffrey Smith, University of Alberta)
«Even as the fate of so many now hangs in the balance, the humanization of the world is a palpable dream being realized by critical educators on every continent. Ali Abdi and Paul R. Carr here contribute an important book that helps both to further seed and to model the type of 21st century paideia project that can inform a just, peaceful, and solidary planetary community. Those concerned with education for sustainability should walk awhile with this diverse, ferocious, reflective and moral collection of voices.» (Richard Kahn, Antioch University Los Angeles)
«This book is not only timely but should become essential reading for anyone at all concerned with ‘the democratic project’. From the clarion call of noted democracy scholar Daniel Schugerensky in his Forward, to the range of chapters from leading education advocates, thinkers and activists, this book reviews from a critical perspective various movements and arrangement around our globe that are attempting to move beyond the ‘thin democracy’ of electoral and party politics, to a more ‘thicker democracy’ of transformative learning and action.» (David Zyngier, Monash University)
«Abdi and Carr's edited text does a fantastic job of deconstructing the often misleading tenets of democracy as both ideology and political construct. Not only do the authors within the text construct a devastating critique of democracy regarding education, government, the economy, and civic engagement, they explore possibilities for solutions. Pre-K-adult educators will find this work valuable as well as relevant for a variety of fields.» (Faith Agostinone-Wilson, Aurora University)
«What is the purpose and value of education in the construction of our collective well-being? Abdi and Carr bring together a powerful group of scholars who provide a range of thought-provoking responses to this question. Their intellectual engagements highlight joys, difficulties and possibilities within the field of education conceived as a discipline wrestling with competing and uneven social forces, and with questions of relevance in increasingly more complex, uncertain, pluralistic and unequal societies. This book is a significant contribution to the efforts to construct, in the words of the editors, ‘a more meaningful, critically engaged, socially just educational experience (that) counters the prevailing whims of the day (and of history)’.» (Vanessa de Oliveira (Andreotti), University of Oulu, Finland)

About this edition

• Publisher: Peter Lang Inc., International Academic Publishers
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 143311710X
• ISBN 13: 9781433117107
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 292
• Editor: Abdi Ali A., Carr Paul R.