Sustaining the life-chance divide? Education for sustainable development and the global biopolitical regime

• What is being sustained in education for sustainable development (ESD)? Drawing on biopolitical theory, this article puts forth the hypothesis that it is in fact the very life-chance gulf that separates wealthy ‘sustainable’ mass consumers from poor ‘sustainable’ subsistence-level populations. Hence, in sharp contrast to the cosmopolitan buzz that characterizes the international policy discourse on ESD, it is argued that ESD feeds into the global life-chance divide as it prepares different populations for entirely different lives and lifestyles. In previous research that has dealt with global aspects of ESD, a dividing line can be drawn between scholars who emphasize tendencies towards neoliberal homogenization and those who highlight contingency, local re-articulations and spaces of contestation. This paper offers a third theoretical position that while sharing a deep unease with global neoliberal government is primarily concerned with its ‘will to divide’. As a corollary of this biopolitical perspective, the paper makes a case for critical empirical research that can lay bare the cracks and contradictions in the grand narrative of ESD as a cosmopolitan ethical enterprise.

Ämnesord

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Utbildningsvetenskap -- Pedagogik (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Educational Sciences -- Pedagogy (hsv//eng)

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Utbildningsvetenskap -- Didaktik (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Educational Sciences -- Didactics (hsv//eng)

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Annan samhällsvetenskap (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Other Social Sciences (hsv//eng)

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Social och ekonomisk geografi (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Social and Economic Geography (hsv//eng)

HUMANIORA  -- Annan humaniora (hsv//swe)

HUMANITIES  -- Other Humanities (hsv//eng)

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Statsvetenskap -- Globaliseringsstudier (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Political Science -- Globalisation Studies (hsv//eng)

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Utbildningsvetenskap (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Educational Sciences (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Biopolitics

education for sustainable development

global

life(style)

life-chances

neoliberalism

subjectivity

Publikations- och innehållstyp

ref (ämneskategori)

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