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13 - Critical Theory, Local Moral Perception, and Democratic Education

from Part Two - Philosophical and Normative Foundations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 April 2023

By
Drew Chambers
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

This chapter attempts to answer two questions. First, what does democratic education informed by critical theory minimally entail? Second, what does it take for a critical democratic education to succeed? The chapter argues that attention to local contexts is a necessary aspect for developing critical and democratic virtues. The chapter first sets the stage by offering a sketch of both democratic education and critical theory. The following section draws out a common occluding characteristic of both democratic education and critical education, namely, their preoccupation with national and global scopes. The next two sections draw on the work of Iris Murdoch and John McDowell to argue that cultivating moral attention to one’s local setting must be seen as an essential aspect of critical democratic education. The chapter concludes by offering brief educational applications and responses to objections related to objectivity and the threat of parochialism.

Keywords

democratic educationcritical theorylocalismglobalismcritical pedagogymoral perceptionIris MurdochAimé CésairePaulo FreireRoss Gay
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Democratic Education , pp. 196 - 229
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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