The current cult of the personality of the teacher and personal development as an official goal in education policy documents are problematic as they make it difficult to distinguish a teacher from a seducer, thus blurring the distinction between education and therapy. In order to describe the pedagogical bond proper the article draws on Lacanian…

Ever since its formative years in the USA a century ago, the discipline of education has taken an uneasy stand on its own "scientific" status, not least with regard to the basic issue of the relationships between theory and practice. When a science of education was introduced as a panacea for rational planning in the fields of schooling and…

What an honor to have political and educational theorists of such caliber take up ideas from my work! What a daunting task to try to respond! My remarks will touch on the following questions: What are some key issues of distributive justice in education today? Why does defining justice in terms of oppression and domination imply that issues of…

The history of pedagogics gives the impression that pedagogics has never had an identity of its own. Throughout history it has borrowed its identity from philosophy, theology, psychology and sociology. Against the background of this historical challenge, the article proposes pedagogical practice as an alternative identity to pedagogics, although…

The paper discusses Iris Marion Young's idea of asymmetric reciprocity that rethinks typical understandings of gift giving. Iris Marion Young's proposals for asymmetric ethical relationships have important implications for democratic contexts that seek to take differences seriously. Imagining oneself in the place of the other or expecting from the…

Three key contributions of Iris Young to democratic political theory, and three challenges that have arisen in response to Young's theory, are examined here in relation to education. First, Young has argued that oppression and domination, not distributive inequality, ought to guide discussions about justice. Second, eliminating oppression requires…

This paper builds on Iris Young's work to argue that social justice in education has to be understood in relation to particular contexts of enactment. More specifically, the author argues that it is not possible to make cross-national or other comparative assessments of social justice without consideration of the ways in which justice is enacted…

Recognising the relevance of Iris Marion Young's work to education, this article poses the question: given Iris Young's commitment to both social justice and to recognition of the political and ethical significance of difference, to what extent does her position allow for transnational interventions in education to foster democracy? First, it…

This paper will focus on Young's theories of heterogeneity, as they have developed from the essays in "Throwing Like a Girl" (1990) to those in "Inclusion and Democracy" (2000). Reading her theories of heterogeneity together with recent developments in political theory which seek to reclaim the agonistic and frictional aspects of polity and…

What is citizenship? This question goes back to the political philosophy of Aristotle, and how one answers it will be decisive in determining one's vision of political life. In the last ten to fifteen years, the question of citizenship has aroused a renewed set of extremely lively debates within political philosophy, and Iris Marion Young has…

Rousseau's philosophy of education is contained not only in "Emile" (1762), but also in "The Government of Poland" (1772). In each of them he emphasises different aspects of education: How to be a human being? And: How to be a citizen? The main theme investigated by Rousseau in "The Government of Poland", is how a minor nation surrounded by such…

This paper explores how diversity is used as a key term to describe the social and educational mission of universities in Australia. The paper suggests that we need to explore what diversity "does" in specific contexts. Drawing on interviews with diversity and equal opportunities practitioners, the paper suggests that "diversity" is used in the…

Argues to reclaim the term "community," suggesting a conception of learning communities that values diversity, dialogical and material interaction, conflict, and complete member participation. After analyzing dichotomies of difference and community using Fraser's, Young's, and Ellsworth's writings, the paper examines feminist pragmatism in…

Democratic educators should take Arendt's conservatism seriously. Arendt's conception of authority shares fundamental assumptions with mainstream conservative views, although her political philosophy is heavily influenced by existentialism. This paper argues that Arendt's view of authority in education constitutes an alternative to other…

Uses narratives from research on interethnic Australian families to explore how interracial families are sites for development and articulation of hybrid identity, examining the significance of place, locality, and situated racial practice in constructing identity and arguing (using Hall's concepts of New Times and hybridity) that interracial…