Humanism and democracy in comparative education

TY - JOUR

T1 - Humanism and democracy in comparative education

AU - Elfert, Maren

N1 - Maren Elfert is Senior Lecturer in International Education at King’s College London. She holds a PhD from the University of British Columbia. Her areas of research involve the global governance of education and the influence of international organisations on educational ideas and policies, and she has published on the history of international organisations in relation to education for development, literacy, and adult education and lifelong learning policy. She is submissions editor of the International Review of Education and member of the editorial board of Comparative Education. Publisher Copyright: © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

PY - 2023

Y1 - 2023

N2 - This article argues that contemporary education policies promoted by UNESCO and the OECD are embracing two distinct post-humanist visions, which I call the ‘sustainable futures’ and the ‘techno-solutionist’ strand. I will relate these strands to two conflicting agendas of education after World War II: the humanistic-emancipatory perspective represented by UNESCO, and the ‘economics of education’ movement, which was dominant in the OECD. I argue that comparative education scholars would be well advised to draw on the humanistic and democratic traditions of the field in critically analysing the range of promissory visions and master narratives that have emerged recently which carry de-humanising tendencies and represent a challenge to democracy.

AB - This article argues that contemporary education policies promoted by UNESCO and the OECD are embracing two distinct post-humanist visions, which I call the ‘sustainable futures’ and the ‘techno-solutionist’ strand. I will relate these strands to two conflicting agendas of education after World War II: the humanistic-emancipatory perspective represented by UNESCO, and the ‘economics of education’ movement, which was dominant in the OECD. I argue that comparative education scholars would be well advised to draw on the humanistic and democratic traditions of the field in critically analysing the range of promissory visions and master narratives that have emerged recently which carry de-humanising tendencies and represent a challenge to democracy.

KW - Comparative Education

KW - humanism

KW - Democracy

KW - Post-humanism

KW - UNESCO

KW - OECD

KW - Sustainable Futures

KW - techno-solutionism

KW - skills

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85149418235&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1080/03050068.2023.2185432

DO - 10.1080/03050068.2023.2185432

M3 - Article

SN - 0305-0068

VL - 59

SP - 398

EP - 415

JO - COMPARATIVE EDUCATION

JF - COMPARATIVE EDUCATION

IS - 3

ER -