Teaching for (and not just about) Pro-Social Political Disobedience

• In Event: Teaching Democracy Now

Abstract

(Dis)obedience is not inherently good or evil; rather, it needs to be judged in context. Passini and Morselli (2009) differentiated constructive obedience (behaviors that foster social harmony) from destructive obedience (uncritical compliance with immoral or illegitimate authority) as well as pro-social disobedience (seeking positive societal change) from antisocial disobedience (pursuing self-serving gains). Social studies teachers should cultivate the knowledge and skills for pro-social disobedience. Arendt (1958/1998) articulated a conception of politics based on what she saw as an innate human capacity to do what is new or unexpected: action. Importantly, anyone can take action in this Arendtian sense as “to act, in its most general sense, means to take an initiative to begin… to set something into motion” (Arendt, p. 177). A process of truth (Badiou, 1998/2001) is an opportunity to rethink our assumptions and past ways of doing things, while a simulacrum reinforces something already in existence for a select group of people, thus preventing imagination and Arendtian action. We, as educators, need to avoid limiting students’ imaginations about the possibilities for pro-social disobedience. This presentation will engage with this theoretical basis tied to specific classroom examples.

Authors

• Cathryn van Kessel, Texas Christian University

• Rebeka Plots, Texas Christian University