31.077 - Challenging Extremism? Education for Justice and Peace in a World of Competing Ideologies

Session Type: Symposium

Abstract

Peace education and human rights education aim to promote justice and peace in the world. However, they face challenges from racist, sexist, nationalist, xenophobic and religious fundamentalist discourses and from the political movements they sustain. This symposium examines ways in which official policies designed to challenge extremism are interpreted by teachers, learners, and members of minoritised communities, considering the degree to which they support and/or undermine peacebuilding.
Policies and practices intended to promote social cohesion may actually create community rifts, because of the assumptions they carry about minoritised people, religious identities and political allegiances. Drawing on experiences from Japan and Europe, we identify approaches to challenging extremism based on human rights principles which might be developed in different cultural contexts.

Sub Unit

• SIG-Peace Education

Chair

• Audrey Helen Osler, University College of South East Norway

Papers

• The Rise of Extremism and Challenges for Education in Japan - Yuka Kitayama, Buskerud and Vestfold University College

• U.K. Government Policies for Preventing Violent Extremism: Critical Perspectives - Hugh Starkey, UCL Institute of Education - London

• Contrasting Approaches to Justice and Citizenship Education in Two European Nations: Norway and the UK - Audrey Helen Osler, University College of South East Norway

• Young Muslims, Identities, and Recognition: Reactions to Politicized Media Discourses - Satoshi Adachi, Institute of Education - London

Discussant

• Kathy Bickmore, OISE/University of Toronto