Education and Cultural Citizenship
- Nick Stevenson - University of Nottingham, UK
- Michael Kenny, University of Sheffield
"In Education and Cultural Citizenship Nick Stevenson presents a powerful argument concerning how education can and should promote democracy, accompanied by critiques of how all-too-often education fails to do so. Full of strong ideas, arguments, engagement with key thinkers, Stevenson's book should be of great interest to all concerned with the nexus of democracy and education."
- Douglas Kellner, UCLA
This dynamic book systematically brings together the major developments in the social and political theory of education. It offers a global introduction to the major debates within the field and provides a sustained argument for a democratic and normative view of education.
Nick Stevenson provides a comprehensive view of the major disputes within social, cultural and political approaches to education. Drawing upon varied critical traditions, the book helpfully connects these diverse threads of debate whilst exploring the work of key theorists. Areas explored include:
- democratic notions of education
- cosmopolitanism
- multiculturalism
- pragmaticism
- critical pedagogy
- democratic socialism
- liberalism
- politics of fear.
Clearly written and passionately argued, this book will be essential reading for all those interested in exploring education's changing place in society.
'Nick Stevenson strikes again, this time bringing the insights of critical social theory to bear upon the vexing issues of education, critical pedagogy and cultural citizenship. Stevenson is a powerful and engaging sociologist, and this book is his most politically provocative to date'
Anthony Elliott
Chair of Sociology, Flinders University, Australia and Visiting Research Professor, Open University
'Nick Stevenson skilfully draws upon a welter of leading thinkers from the liberal, socialist, critical-theory and multiculturalist canons in developing his argument that leading ideas about education are umbilically tied to notions of the good society. The pluralistic and undogmatic manner in which he sifts these accounts, and his insistence upon the centrality of democratic citizenship, make this a timely and important contribution to current debates about the nature and purpose of schools'
Michael Kenny
Department of Politics, University of Sheffield
'In Education and Cultural Citizenship Nick Stevenson presents a powerful argument concerning how education can and should promote democracy, accompanied by critiques of how all-too-often education fails to do so. Full of strong ideas, arguments, engagement with key thinkers, Stevenson's book should be of great interest to all concerned with the nexus of democracy and education'
Douglas Kellner
UCLA, author of Guys and Guns Amok and Media Spectacle and the Crisis of Democracy
'This is a challenging book that draws together and synthesises philosophical arguments from a variety of perspectives... Teachers, educational leaders and school governors who are interested in the wider remit of educational practice would be well advised to read and reflect upon what this book has to say'
James Cambridge
Journal of Research in International Education
Nick Stevenson's latest book, Education and Cultural Citizenship, performs a valuable service in that it highlights and funnels theories of education into questions of cultural and political participation... All in all, this is a well-written text with enough information and reflection to breathe fresh air into educational debates. Especially Stevenson's insistence on rekindling the revolutionary flame of these educational theories vis-a`-vis what he calls the attempt to vocationalise secondary and tertiary education will do educational debates much good. One would only wish that as many university vice-chancellors and education ministry officials as possible would read this book and take it to heart. But this will probably remain wishful thinking.
Holger Briel
Journal of Language and Intercultural Communication
"Stevenson explores key ideas about democratic education and the impact of education on social and political viewpoints in today's global society...This book is recommended for educators and parents concerned with cultural citizenship."
