Youth worldlessness and civic participation online and at school: Exploring Arendt’s philosophy

This paper seeks to explore the possible contribution that thinking with Arendt can bring to understanding the nuances of school-aged young people’s civic participation. Using Arendt’s work on responsibility, political presence and the notion of worldlessness, this paper will explore how young people’s social media interactions can serve as a way to foster a more critical sense of civic participation and political agency in education. This paper comprises three main sections. Firstly, there is a critical discussion on how the notion of ‘public sphere’ may help to conceptualise school as an important site for youth political and civic participation and engagement, even when Arendt’s position in education is that the school should not be touched by politics, in this way the paper uses Arendt to think against Arendt to position the school as a ‘space of appearance’. Secondly, the notion of what I term in this paper youth worldlessness is developed by using Arendt’s (2018) theory to frame for understanding the everyday exclusions and displacements experienced by research participants and how citizenship education struggles to serve as an outlet for them. Thirdly, the paper analyses the role of young people’s social media engagements by examining data from a qualitative study with British young people, ranging from 15 to 18 years of age

De-territorialisations for pedagogical co-creation: Challenging traditionalistic pedagogies with students in higher education

The notion of pedagogy tends to be understood as the domain of teachers, this is a reductive way of thinking about pedagogy. Instead, in this paper I explore the heteroglossia of pedagogy through the Deleuzian-Guattarian notion of assemblage. Through this approach, pedagogy is an open debate which needs to involve students to co-create the learning environment in Higher Education (HE). Drawing on data collected with first year undergraduate students and through an action research methodological approach, I will argue that collaborative and progressive pedagogies in HE must go beyond the authority of the teacher and offer students in-class opportunities to negotiate the usual power relationships that characterise traditionalistic pedagogies. Whilst there is a stronger emphasis on engaging students differently in HE, it is important to also reflect on the dynamics that emerge from initiatives that seek to redress the pedagogical imbalances that the traditionalistic classroom perpetuates, such as enforcing a prescriptive curriculum where knowledge is transferable, inert and closely policed to satisfy performative regimes of assessment. I suggest that the notion of assemblages can help us understand the solidified and accepted classroom pedagogies as territories which are still normative in education, including HE, therefore, mapping out these territories open up possibilities for de-territorialisations

The ever present discourses in education

Sociology for Education Studies provides a fresh look at the sociology of education, focusing on themes such as habitus, hegemony and intersectionality. It supports students in applying sociological theory to their own educational experiences and developing an understanding of why social orders appear to be predetermined, why the state continues to create education policy in certain forms and, crucially, how to make it better. The book explores the multi-faceted perspectives that influence the sociology of education and presents examples of the applications of sociology to a wide variety of different educational contexts, including education in schools and in the community. Chapters cover topics such as: Morality, education and social order Spaces of invisibility and marginalisation in schools The global political economy of education Rethinking the ‘international perspective’ in Education Studies This accessible book is an essential read for students of Education Studies as well as those involved in teacher education and training

Materialising resistance against rape culture online: The phenomenon of SlutWalks

This volume critically analyses political strategies, civil society initiatives and modes of representation that challenge the conventional narratives of women in contexts of violence. It deepens into the concepts of victimhood and agency that inform the current debate on women as victims. The volume opens the scope to explore initiatives that transcend the pair abuser–victim and explore the complex relations between gender and violence, and individual and collective accountability, through politics, activism and cultural productions in order to seek social transformation for gender justice. In innovative and interdisciplinary case studies, it brings attention to initiatives and narratives that make new spaces possible in which to name, self-identify, and resignify the female political subject as a social agent in situations of violence. The volume is global in scope, bringing together contributions ranging from India, Cambodia or Kenya, to Quebec, Bosnia or Spain. Different aspects of gender-based violence are analysed, from intimate relationships, sexual violence, military contexts, society and institutions. Re-writing Women as Victims: From Theory to Practice will be a key text for students, researchers and professionals in gender studies, political sciences, sociology and media and cultural Studies. Activists and policy makers will also find its practical approach and engagement with social transformation to be essential reading

The case of Tumblr: young people’s mediatised responses to the crisis of learning about gender at school

This volume critically analyses political strategies, civil society initiatives and modes of representation that challenge the conventional narratives of women in contexts of violence. It deepens into the concepts of victimhood and agency that inform the current debate on women as victims. The volume opens the scope to explore initiatives that transcend the pair abuser–victim and explore the complex relations between gender and violence, and individual and collective accountability, through politics, activism and cultural productions in order to seek social transformation for gender justice. In innovative and interdisciplinary case studies, it brings attention to initiatives and narratives that make new spaces possible in which to name, self-identify, and resignify the female political subject as a social agent in situations of violence. The volume is global in scope, bringing together contributions ranging from India, Cambodia or Kenya, to Quebec, Bosnia or Spain. Different aspects of gender-based violence are analysed, from intimate relationships, sexual violence, military contexts, society and institutions. Re-writing Women as Victims: From Theory to Practice will be a key text for students, researchers and professionals in gender studies, political sciences, sociology and media and cultural Studies. Activists and policy makers will also find its practical approach and engagement with social transformation to be essential reading

The digital divide: neoliberal imperatives and education

European Social Problems is the first book to examine social issues in Europe from the perspective of the social sciences. It considers many of these social problems following the UK’s ‘leave’ vote. Key topics examined here include: immigration; multiculturalism and religion; health; inequalities; education; riots and protest; drugs and crime; sexuality. These core issues run as a thread through Europe and are experienced by Europeans themselves as social problems. As such, this text facilitates students’ direct engagement with some of the problematic constituents in their own lives. This text is suitable for those studying social policy, sociology, politics, international relations, criminology and education studies. In this way it functions as an accessible ‘reader’ for final year undergraduates as well as postgraduate students

Universal Basic Income

Universal basic income is a controversial policy which is causing a stir amongst academics, politicians, journalists and policy-makers all over the world. The idea of receiving ‘money for nothing’, with no strings attached, has for a long time appeared a crazy or radical proposal. But today, this policy is being put into practice. With more and more trials and experiments taking place in different countries, this book provides both the theory and context for making sense of different basic income approaches, examining how the policy can be best implemented. Unlike many other texts written on this topic, the book provides a balanced account of basic income, weighing up the pros and cons from a number of different positions. The book provides a theory chapter, enabling readers to grasp some of the complex philosophical ideas and concepts which underpin universal basic income, such as social justice, equality and freedom. It also provides an examples chapter, which examines both historical and contemporary basic income studies to have taken place from around the globe. The book also features chapters on the environment and the work of women, as well as an ‘against’ universal basic income chapter, which specifically draws on the criticisms of the policy. This volume is an essential resource for anyone who wishes to get to grips with universal basic income

Inequality: an exploration of issues of gender, ‘race’ and social class in education

Jessie Bustillos and Sandra Abegglen undertake an inquiry into inequalities in education. They attempt to disentangle some of the many issues in the realm of gender, ‘race’ and social class in education. The chapter explores some of the growing patterns of inequality that have characterised schooling in the UK. This is broken down into three main sections, First, a section where gender equity issues in schools are outlined and interrogated. The authors look at feminist concerns and ask whether we are now in a post-feminist educational era. Second, issues of ‘race’ and education are discussed in relation to the work of well-known ’critical race theorists’, Gillborn and Youdell. Finally, the work of recently retired, internationally renowned Prof. Stephen Ball will be drawn upon to illustrate a range of issues around social class and educational opportunity