Todd, Sharon
(2010)
Living in a Dissonant World: Toward an Agonistic
Cosmopolitics for Education.
Studies in Philosophy and Education, 29.
pp. 213-228.
ISSN 0039-3746
Abstract
As a flashpoint for specific instances of conflict, Muslim sartorial practices
have at times been seen as being antagonistic to ‘‘western’’ ideas of gender equality,
secularity, and communicative practices. In light of this, I seek to highlight the ways in
which such moments of antagonism actually might be understood on ‘‘cosmopolitical’’
terms, that is, through a framework informed by a critical and political approach to cosmopolitanism
itself. Thus, through an ‘‘agonistic cosmopolitics’’ I here argue for a more
robust political understanding of what a cosmopolitan orientation to cultural difference can
offer education. The paper moves from a focus on harmony to agonism and from cosmopolitanism
to the cosmopolitical, and within each I discuss the questions of democracy
and universality, respectively. Drawing on, the work of Chantal Mouffe, Judith Butler and
Bonnie Honig, I discuss the basis upon which our agonistic interactions can inform education
in promoting better ways of living together. This requires, in my view, nothing less
than a clear understanding of the very difficulties of pluralism and a questioning of some of
the ways we often reflect on the political dimension of these difficulties. I offer some
reflections on what an agonistic cosmopolitics has to offer the debates surrounding the
wearing of various forms of Muslim dress in schools in the conclusion. My overall claim is
that cosmopolitanism as a set of ideas that seek more peaceful forms of living together on a
global scale is in need of a theoretical framework that faces directly the difficulties of
living in a dissonant world.
| Item Type: |
Article
|
| Keywords: |
Cosmopolitanism; Agonism; Cosmopolitics; Pluralism;
Conflict; Democracy; Universalism; Muslim; |
| Academic Unit: |
Faculty of Social Sciences > Education |
| Item ID: |
8549 |
| Identification Number: |
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11217-009-9171-1 |
| Depositing User: |
Prof. Sharon Todd
|
| Date Deposited: |
02 Aug 2017 08:12 |
| Journal or Publication Title: |
Studies in Philosophy and Education |
| Publisher: |
Springer Verlag |
| Refereed: |
Yes |
| URI: |
|
| Use Licence: |
This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available
here |
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