MF CASR lunch with Kjersti Fjørtoft

Patriotism, Love and Shared fate: Education for good citizenship

Within the philosophy of education, there has been a lot of discussion of how to educate for democratic citizenship in the age of diversity. The challenge is how to balance the need for unity with respect for differences. The discussion has been dominated by the disagreement of whether the school should educate for cosmopolitanism that stresses the moral rights and corresponding duties to all human beings, and republicanism and communitarianism that stresses the importance of moral commitment to fellow citizens, common cultural values, and national identity. This paper discusses Martha Nussbaum’s claim that education for patriotism is necessary to keep liberal democratic institutions stable over time. I argue that while I support the idea that democratic education needs to be connected to children’s concrete experiences and belonging, I think patriotism runs the risk of ignoring the present of historical injustice. At the end of the paper, I argue a theory of citizenship for shared fate, combined with a focus on structural injustice, can accommodate both the need for unity and respect for diversity.

Please join us in person at the MF Library, or watch on Zoom: https://mf-no.zoom.us/j/64105595003?pwd=S0JpdTIyT1dBcjRwTjg2YzVxdmVRQT09

Zoom Meeting ID: 641 0559 5003
Passcode: MFCASR