Session Information
Session 3B, Radical Emancipatory and/or Negative Pedagogies: Common Grounds and Differences
Papers
Time:
2005-09-08
09:00-10:30
Room:
ENG
Chair:
Bo Dahlin
Contribution
In his last years, Jacques Derrida became increasingly an inspiration for a tradition in theology, named negative theology. The core of this tradition is that God can only be described in negative terms. In this paper I will discuss some possible impacts of the deconstruction in theology (in particular negative theology) with regard to a reformulation of pedagogy in education, a possibility of opening up pedagogy as one may say. I have a particular interest in following the later Derrida's attempt to oppose "totalizing" theologies and metaphysics (Derrida 1995, Bulhof & Kate 2000, Caputo 1997, Coward & Foshay 1992) and I will draw some parallels to different "metaphysics of pedagogy". I am particularly interested in the mystical as central in non-metaphysical theology (Hart 2000). Despite major differences my claim is that there are also interesting parallels between Martin Buber's philosophy and Derrida's philosophy. Buber's phrase "religion without dogmas", is by Derrida phrased "religion without religion". The religious element in both Buber and Derrida may be of vital importance in the attempts on drawing consequences for education. In critical pedagogy there has been a heroic struggle against paternalism and instrumentalism. Paradoxically (paradoxically because most of us usually associate religion with the incarnation of paternalism and instrumentalism) these religious elements could become a source for the non-paternalist and non-instrumentalist educational practise. I will also give some examples from a northern context where ecstatic elements are central in different religious practices. I will use this to discuss some of the impacts this could have on the way we conceptualize and organise education. Could we from this perspective search for a "negative pedagogy"?
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