Pedagogy, Politics and Philosophy of Peace: Interrogating Peace and Peacemaking

Description

In an age where official and sponsored violence are becoming normalised and conceived of as legitimate tools of peace keeping, a number of leading academics and activists represented in Pedagogy, Politics and Philosophy of Peace interrogate and resist the intensification of the militarisation of civil life and of international relations. Coming from different areas of study, the contributors to this volume discuss peace and critical peace education from a range of perspectives. The nature of peace, myths related to peace, the logistics of peace and peacemaking as well as the relation of peace and pedagogy in the broadest meaning of the term constitute the main themes of the book. The common thread that binds the chapters together is the distinction between genuine/authentic and false peace and the importance of critical reflection on actions that contribute to genuine peace.

Carmel Borg is Associate Professor in the Department of Arts, Open Communities and Adult Education, Faculty of Education, University of Malta, Malta. Michael Grech is Assistant Lecturer at Junior College, University of Malta, Malta.

In a time when we are massively exposed to the premeditated devaluation and destruction of life in especially extra-western locations, Borg and Grech, along with their contributors, achieve a critical scholarly intervention that refuses to rescind the hope for genuine peace that should be rightfully accorded to all. As such, this book represents a uniquely original disquisition that should shift the way we think about peace and international relations; its arguments should persuade us to once again believe in the possibilities of viable and re-humanizing citizenships that affirm and improve the lives of people across the world. * Ali Abdi, Professor and Head, Department of Educational Studies, The University of British Columbia, Canada * This collection of essays offers an insightful multi-layered and multi-disciplinary theoretical reflection on the nature and meaning of peace and peace education as a critical moral imperative. In doing so, the collection makes a significant contribution to the philosophy of critical peace education. * Dale T. Snauwaert, Professor of Philosophy of Education and Co-Director of the Graduate Certificate in the Foundations of Peace Education, The University of Toledo, USA * In an era of normalised war and conflict it becomes almost impossible to conceive of an emancipatory ethics of peace as anything other than a pipe dream. In this collection, peace is understood as the absence of conflict and as the experience of justice between people and between nations - a conceptualisation which magnifies the enormity of the task of turning dreams into reality. But it is precisely because of the scale of the challenge that we need critical pedagogical books like this that can step outside the despair of everyday assumptions and inspire and challenge us to think and act differently and at the same time make hope for a world at peace convincing. * Jim Crowther, Senior Lecturer in Community Education, The University of Edinburgh, UK *