Let Us Become the Radicals They Accuse Us of Being: Social Studies Education in the Ruins of Liberal Democracy

• In Event: Teaching Democracy Now

Abstract

We are living through a period of democratic decay, in which authoritarian actors have recognized the political power of education and are moving strategically to shape it. In contrast, much of the social studies profession has responded with caution, ambiguity, and a misplaced adherence to the value and possibility of neutrality. The result is a growing dissonance between the urgency of the moment and the frameworks the field continues to rely on.
This poster presentation argues that social studies education must move toward a pedagogy of resistance. This is not a call for partisan indoctrination but a call to stop pretending that our existing paradigms are working. Neutrality is not a refuge but a position that has increasingly served to normalize injustice and authoritarianism. We are not in an era that can be addressed with balance and civility: we are in a struggle over whether democracy, however flawed, will survive. And we are teaching in a moment when our decisions as educators will shape that outcome.

Authors

• Mardi Schmeichel, University of Nebraska - Lincoln

• Alexander Cuenca, Indiana University