Between professional autonomy and state utilization
A genealogy of the relationship between democracy, governance and political education in the history of the Federal Republic of Germany
Political education is at the center of social debates about democracy - and at the same time is itself part of these debates. The project examines historically how state expectations, political objectives and professional self-images of political education clash, contradict each other and are constantly renegotiated. In this way, it contributes to fundamentally clarifying the role, mission and autonomy of political education in democratic societies - especially in times of profound political and social upheaval.
Project description
The aim of the project is to analyze the recurring state invocations and recourse to political education for the purpose of realizing political goals on the one hand and the reactions and responses of the field of political education on the other as an ongoing conflict about democracy. The project is based on the assumption that "state" and "civic education" (as collective terms that are analytically differentiated in the project) are in a conflictual relationship of dependency: on the one hand they need each other, on the other hand they (potentially) differentiate different understandings of what "civic education in and for democracy" means. This underlying tension, according to the central thesis of the project, emerges in the context of different socio-historical constellations in specific ways and is negotiated in specific ways.
In order to reconstruct these dynamics and processes, a genealogical perspective appears to be beneficial. With the help of this, manifest conflicts between "state" and "political education" can be examined as an expression of a subliminal and ongoing fundamental conflict, namely around the meaning of both "democracy" and "political education". To this end, specific conflict constellations from three phases of post-war history in the Federal Republic of Germany - the first two post-war decades, the phase during the social-liberal coalition and the period since reunification - will be examined and systematized with regard to variants of conflict processes. On the side of state claims (at federal level and for selected federal states), decrees from the ministries of education and the interior, syllabuses and curricula, state-approved textbooks and materials from the state centers for political education serve as a material basis. On the side of the response of the field of civic education (separated into school and non-school), these include textbooks for teacher training and school practice, programs and course protocols of further education academies, statements from teachers' associations, project applications and statements from educational institutions.
On the basis of the historical-empirical analyses, a concept of governance with education (based on Foucault) will be developed and the autonomy of civic education will be reflected upon, thus making original contributions to the two disciplines represented by the applicants - political science and didactics of civic education.
Everything at a glance
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Duration
01.04.2024 - 31.03.2027 (Ongoing) -
Research area
Didactics of Social Sciences & Political Science -
Funding
German Research Foundation (DFG)
Funding bodies and cooperation partners
The project is funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG).
Partners in the project are PD Dr. Marlon Barbehön and Hannah Klein from the Institute of Political Science at Heidelberg University.