Civic Education and Liberal Democracy

"Goes to the heart of a long standing debate between those who understand the role of education as transmitting civic norms and values, and those who understand the everydayness of social and historical life as far more complex and multi layered than what can be represented by a single unified conception of liberal democracy...deeply challenging, thought provoking and important." (Carl Anders Safstrom, Professor of Education, Sodertorn University, Sweden) "Although Strandbrink will make many liberals feel distinctly uncomfortable, his book raises important questions for education in liberal democracies and what should be taught in our schools... timely and significant." (Mark Pike, Professor of Education, University of Leeds, UK)

This book explores the inherent tension in civic education. The book will be of significant interest to students and scholars of education, sociology, normative statehood, democracy, and liberal political culture, particularly those working in the areas of civic education;

This book explores the inherent tension in civic education. There is a surging belief in contemporary European society that liberal democracy should work harder to reproduce the civic and normative setups of national populations through public education. The cardinal notion is that education remains the best means to accomplish this end, and educational regimes appropriate tools to make the young more tolerant, civic, democratic, communal, cosmopolitan, and prone to engaged activism. This book is concerned with the ambiguities that strain standard visions of civic education and educational statehood. On the one hand, civic-normative education is expected to drive tolerance in the face of conflicting good-life affirmations and accelerating worldview pluralisation; on the other hand, nation-states are primarily interested in reproducing the normative prerogatives that prevail in restricted cultural environments. This means that civic education unfolds on two irreconcilable planes at once: one cosmopolitan/tolerant, another parochial/intolerant. The book will be of significant interest to students and scholars of education, sociology, normative statehood, democracy, and liberal political culture, particularly those working in the areas of civic education; as well as education policy-makers.