Democratic Education: Educating for Democracy

Abstract

Against the background of the devastating experiences of the short twentieth century (Hobsbawm) and its human consequences the question of real democratic education for a real democratic society is once again on the intellectual and practical agenda. The contribution inquires in a first step about the appropriateness of social analysis and the contemporary adequacy of critical theory for the work of (re-)conceptualizing democratic education. The main focus, therefore, is the relevance of Adorno’s proposals for a democratic education, first appearing in his article “Education after Auschwitz”. There, he says one of the education’s primary objectives should be to ensure that Auschwitz should never be repeated. Auschwitz is a symbol signifying the decline of western civilization. This work Adorno’s helps us to understand other primary relationships among social conditions, political culture, ethics and education, all of which are extremely important in establishing a democratic everyday life, including educational institutions and sites. In a next step the debate between Adorno and Gehlen – his conservative counterpart – is summarized as a major example of the critical and conservative positions in the field of education and society with respect to the questions of concepts of reason, of agency, autonomy, and personal responsibility. In this context, the question of the conditions for the constitution of subjectivity is most pertinent for our further discussions. As Adorno says in this respect, democracy must take hold in such a way that people internalize it and make it their own, i.e., they understand themselves as subjects of dynamic democratic political processes and as active participants in political, i.e., public life. As Castells puts it in the end of his third volume of “The Information Age”: To overcome the gap between technological overdevelopment and social underdevelopment – which is threatening the survival of our planet – we need only responsible governments but an educated responsible society.