This paper aims to unpack potential reasons why law and legal knowledge--despite its apparent importance and value in teaching and learning about human rights--appears to be largely conspicuous by its absence in human rights education (HRE) in schooling. Drawing on a range of contextually relevant categories of ignorance identified from discourse…

According to the latest reports by international evaluation organizations, new forms of political dynamics in democracies are emerging globally that, paradoxically, endanger the very development of democracy: the rise of populism and social and political polarization, new forms of democratic authoritarianism, and, consequently, the risk of…

Contemporary liberal democracies face complex and disruptive challenges, such as toxic populism, culture wars, political polarization, religious fundamentalism, the climate emergency, global conflicts, and the influence of powerful social media platforms. This is the disconcerting world that young people are growing up in and need support in…

Political polarization is often argued to be a major threat to democracy. This article examines whether the two different forms of polarization, ideological and affective, may risk some of the core assumptions of democratic legitimacy. The paper argues that ideological polarization is linked with increasingly radical ideological positions being…

In bringing together the literature on post-democracy and theoretical work on the politics of affective societies, this article explores how democratic education might benefit from a sustained examination of negative emotions and affects associated with democratic disenchantment. In particular, the analysis highlights what is gained by introducing…

This article critically engages with Philip Pettit's civic republican theory, particularly his account of what it takes to realize non-domination in society. Despite providing a comprehensive analysis of the institutional prerequisites for realizing non-domination, Pettit surprisingly overlooks the critical role of education in achieving this…

Populists employ truth as a tool for aligning the people against the elite. Citizenship education rarely takes up critiques of liberal democracy, discussions of populism, or conversations about what truth is. This paper provides an alternative pragmatist vision of truth that builds on the populist call for democracy to better reflect the will of…

In our day and age, everyday life has become a receptacle of various spheres of human life and development. Its expansion and current role of the main reference point for the valuation of phenomena and processes can be seen in the media, various branches of the economy, politics, education, religion, science, art, new technologies, etc. Therefore,…

Since the 1990s, education for the virtues of citizenship has become widespread in the United States and United Kingdom. It is intended to inculcate virtues such as courtesy, respect and truthfulness in school children. This essay defends education for the virtues of citizenship against two criticisms. According to the first, which might be called…

Civic education is often touted as a counterweight to the contentiousness of American politics. Yet, civic education's relationship to dislike and distrust of opposing partisans (affective polarization) remains largely untested. Simultaneously, there are calls for educators to promote more civic informed action, taking civic education beyond the…

To maintain and improve our democracy, we must better prepare students for understanding, valuing, participating in, and responding to political dissent. This is especially the case in light of recent developments in political life that have made displays of public outcry more widespread, though not always well-done. This article reflects on…

Purpose: This study explores debate seeking and conflict avoidance as dimensions of disagreement orientation, and how factors such as citizenship education and individual background may impact how young people engage in situations with conflicting political perspectives. The aim is to study whether how we facilitate citizenship education may…

In Belgium, religious education (RE) in six recognised religions and in non-denominational ethics is organised in 'official' (i.e. state) schools. This policy, the result of a historical compromise reached in 1958, was anchored in the Constitution in 1988. However, due to increasing religious diversity and secularisation, the organisation of RE in…

Youth from every continent used online tools to exchange ideas, debate alternatives, and create a document that represents their voice on the relationship education should have with global citizenship: the International Youth White Paper on Global Citizenship. This paper applies de Sousa Santos' sociology of absences and emergences to trace the…

This essay contributes to scholarly discussions on the affective politics of demagoguery, especially in relation to the rhetoric of white victimhood and resentment, by exploring how civics education could formulate an anti-demagogic pedagogical response. Contemporary understandings of demagoguery as a rhetoric that emphasizes in-group identity and…