FROM THE CITIZEN TO THE PEACE OF THE CITY. A LIGHT CRITICAL EXAMINATION OF EDUCATION FOR DEMOCRATIC CITIZENSHIP, AS A POSSIBLE PATHWAY TO PEACE
FROM THE CITIZEN TO THE PEACE OF THE CITY. A LIGHT CRITICAL EXAMINATION OF EDUCATION FOR DEMOCRATIC CITIZENSHIP, AS A POSSIBLE PATHWAY TO PEACE

Summary/Abstract: From the Citizen to the Peace of the City. A Light Critical Examination of Education for Democratic Citizenship, as a Possible Pathway to Peace. The research proposes a theoretical examination of Education for Democratic Citizenship (EDC) as a possible means for creating political stability and peace, in a democratic environment. The first part of the research outlines the main thesis: peace is natural result of stable democratic institutions that depend on an educated citizenry. The research posits that civic engagement and deliberative democracy are the foundational pillar of a peaceful society. The research also presents two challenges of implementation, namely the institutional contradictions of the school system, and the paradoxes introduced by the digital polis. Technologies, in general, and artificial intelligence, in particular, can be both a catalyst and a corruptor of democratic ideals. The research pivots to a philosophical critique of the model’s assumptions. Therefore, it interrogates whether the idealized and rational citizen, formed by EDC, is a viable educational goal or a construct, that ignores the role of emotion and identity in political life. The analysis draws on theories of agonistic democracy and social intuitionism. The questions whether the Western liberal model of democracy, which is at the foundation of EDC, can be a valid universal solution or if it functions as a form of cultural imposition. The research does not refute EDC, but aims at raising questions, even if controversial, that analyze the internal coherence and applicability of EDC, in a world that is shaped and reshaped by technology and political passions, some even violent. Thus, the research proposes a more realistic pedagogical model, that tackles the management of EDC, rather than the specific aim of solving the inherent tensions.

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