Social ojämlikhet och kulturell missaktning : två utmaningar för den deliberativa demokratimodellen

• The importance of Jürgen Habermas’ theory of democracy has increasingly been recognized also in an educational context. His theory seems to be able to give a convincing answer not only to the question of what contemporary pupils should learn in order to become democratic citizens, but also of how teaching should be structured in order to avoid that the content of citizen education contradicts its methods. Answers inspired by Habermas’ way of thinking are normative, but it is a kind of kind of normativity that takes its point of departure in the current transformation of both political convictions and structures.   In this chapter I discuss important criticisms directed against Habermas’ democratic theory, which are relevant in an educational context. I use these criticisms as tools to develop the theory so that it can overcome its weaknesses. Critics of the deliberative model have claimed that it presupposes an idealization of the communicative situation. The model, according to these critics, neglects the fact that we today still live in a society which is characterized by structural discrimination and power relationships of different kinds. I address two of the most central examples of discrimination which in different ways tend to exclude persons from deliberation, that is, social inequality and cultural disrespect. Thus, the main question of this chapter is: Can the deliberative model of democracy handle the fact that we live in a society characterized by inequality and disrespect? My answer is that it has better potentials to do that than other important models of democracy, but only if it is modified in certain ways.

Ämnesord

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Sociologi (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Sociology (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

deliberativ demokrati

ojämlikhet

missaktning

Habermas

Sociology

Sociologi

Sociologi

Sociology

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