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12 - Social Justice Education and Democratic Legitimacy

from Part Two - Philosophical and Normative Foundations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 April 2023

By
Lauren Bialystok
Edited by
Julian Culp ,
Johannes Drerup  and
Douglas Yacek
Julian Culp
Affiliation:
The American University of Paris, France
Johannes Drerup
Affiliation:
Universität Dortmund
Douglas Yacek
Affiliation:
Universität Dortmund
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Summary

Social Justice Education (SJE) has become the defining orientation of many educators and educational researchers, but is not without its detractors. Because of its overt political investments, SJE has been accused of brainwashing students and violating the terms of democratic legitimacy. In this chapter, I offer a philosophical defense of some SJE. Using Canada as an example and comprehensive liberalism as a framework, I argue that many practices that we wish to protect under the banner of SJE can be defended by appeal to the foundational values that are common to liberal democracies and find expression in contemporary legislation. I suggest five criteria for distinguishing between defensible and indefensible forms of political education, allowing that not all self-proclaimed SJE will be defensible, and some less progressive education will be. I conclude by anticipating two objections to this strategy.

Keywords

social justice educationdemocratic legitimacyliberalism (political)liberalism (comprehensive)indoctrinationCanadapolitical educationneutrality
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Democratic Education , pp. 178 - 195
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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