Social conflicts and the normative discourse: A pedagogical framework for political education

Iyer, Prakash (2026) Social conflicts and the normative discourse: A pedagogical framework for political education. In: Teaching Controversy: The Politics and Ethics of Classroom Conflict. Oxford University PressNew York, NY, pp. 278-292. ISBN 9780197818138

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Abstract

Abstract The political education curriculum is meant to introduce learners to sociopolitical realities and enable them to become active agents in public debates on political norms (normative discourse). Pluralistic societies often carry marks of oppression and conflicts that children are socialized into, such that their perception of others’ identities are suffused with senses of superiority/inferiority, domination/subservience, inclusion/rejection or condescension, and patronizing attitudes. This perception results in subtle, if not invisible, conceptual, linguistic and behavioural violence inside the classroom, thus mirroring societal exclusion and oppression, resulting in the silencing of some learners from participation in reasonable normative discourse. This chapter analyses caste discrimination in India and popular disagreement over associated affirmative action in the Indian constitution, as an illustration that requires reasonable normative discourse. The pedagogical framework to invoke and engage with disagreement that is developed in this chapter aims to make learners aware of their prejudices and the manifest violent behaviours without creating an oppressor–oppressed binary. The argument is that these undesirable attitudes and associated violence are the result of incommensurability in the sortal concepts used—to determine both their own and others’ identities, and to comprehend others’ lived experiences. Being affected by others’ lived experiences would possibly trigger a shift in their perception of their own behaviours and that of others. This renewed perception creates the possibility of learners acknowledging mistakes in their attitudes towards others and creating the possibility of reasonable normative discourse between political equals, at the very least as dialogic adversaries.

Item Type:	Book Section
Authors:	Iyer, Prakash
Editors:	Editors Email ORCID Drerup, Johannes UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Gronostay, Dorothee UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED Yacek, Douglas UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED
Document Language:	Language English
Uncontrolled Keywords:	oppression, conflicts, agential incommensurability, normative discourse, discrimination, political equals, constitution, reservation
Subjects:	Social sciences > Sociology & anthropology > Social interaction Social sciences > Sociology & anthropology > Groups of people > People by social and economic levels > General principles of social classes > Principles of stratification > Caste systems Social sciences > Groups of people > People by social and economic levels > General principles of social classes > Principles of stratification > Caste systems Social sciences > Education > Curricula > Curriculum development
Divisions:	Azim Premji University - Bengaluru > School of Education
Full Text Status:	None
URI:	http://publications.azimpremjiuniversity.edu.in/id/eprint/7921
Publisher URL:	https://doi.org/10.1093/9780197818138.003.0018

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