The aim of this paper is to cultivate conceptual and practical possibilities that lie beyond the ubiquity of the crisis narratives that marks research, theory and practice in education and beyond. It is a paper for ‘the ones who stay and fight’ (Jemisin, 2020). Central to the arguments is the development of the radical imagination as a collective practice that can drive what David Graeber (2007) calls ‘insurrectionary moments’ in our work as researchers and practitioners, and in our lives as citizens and human beings. With this work, I set out to contribute to ‘the emergence of a different paradigm for researchers…that puts at the centre concerns with social transformation and the creation of alternative futures through imaginative actions in the present’ (Punk Ethnography, 2023, n.p.). 

In earlier work, I explored Ruth Levitas’ utopia as method as a way for educational researchers and practitioners to engage with alternative futures that go beyond problem solving (see Van dermijnsbrugge & Chatelier, 2022). I made the argument that the imagination is hijacked by those who wish to build a singular, prefabricated future that will emerge from solving the problems that the assumed crises are posing. This future is a ‘known territory to be mapped and conquered and fought over’ (Facer, 2016, p. 70) with evidence-based ‘weapons’ that do nothing more than perpetuating a crisis-ridden status quo. 

In this paper, I build on the work of utopia as method by looking more closely at the concepts of hope, despair and radical imagination, as well as the very concept of education itself. I reimagine education as a hyperobject (Morton, 2013) that is ‘everything everywhere all at once’ (after the 2022 film by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert). I problematize the binary opposition between education and  non-education and argue that the ‘explosion’ of education - to borrow an image from anarchists Colin Ward and Anthony Fyson (1973) - beyond the institutionalized and limiting spaces of schools and educational institutions is necessary if we want to put the radical imagination to work and contribute to social transformation. 

I weave together three arguments that each attempt to respond to a question:

Can we exist beyond the binaries of hope and despair? And if so, what does this place look like? 

 What is the radical imagination and what are the conditions for it to exist in educational spaces? 

So, what do we do now? How can we put the radical imagination to work? 

Through responding to each of these questions, I try to offer ways of being, thinking and doing that  ‘not only help reveal structures and systems of violence, exploitation and domination…it must also contribute to people’s capacity to imagine and forge paths beyond them.’ (Haiven & Khasnabish, 2014, p. 85). 

This paper is conceptual as well as practical in nature. I build on earlier work on utopia as method (Van dermijnsbrugge & Chatelier, 2022) and anarchist organizational principles (Chaterlier & Van dermijsbrugge, 2022; Van dermijnsbrugge, 2023) and make use of a wide range of interdisciplinary theoretical as well as practical resources and examples. My personal experiences as an educational researcher and practitioner, summarized in a manifesto (Punk Ethnography, 2023) offer an additional critical and practically oriented perspective. The arguments are conceptualized and visualized in a semiotic square of hope and despair, inspired by the work of activists and scholars Haiven and Khasnabish (2014) who developed a semiotic square centered around the concepts of success and failure in their work on researching social movements. The semiotic square ‘offers a profound heuristic tool for taking apart binary thinking and pluralizing the horizons of thought’ (Haiven & Khasnabish, 2014, p. 123). I analyze all four ‘sides’ of the semiotic square, thereby also providing examples, ending with the bottom side, which visualizes the non-binary space between not-hope and not-despair. It is in this space, which Haiven and Khasnabish (2014) call ‘the hiatus’, that the radical imagination can be put to work. An important condition for this to happen is Uprising, which is understood as ‘the creation of autonomous communal spaces and modes of interaction’ (Newman, 2017, p. 285).

As a response to the first question ‘Can we exist beyond the binaries of hope and despair? And if so, what does this place look like?’, through the analysis of the semiotic square of hope and despair, I argue that we need to think and act beyond the binaries that are limiting our educational work as well as society at large. Binaries are based on the premise of exclusion (this, not that) and are thus not only limiting, but also oppressing and damaging. This brings us to the second question of this paper. The second question is concerned with the radical imagination: What is the radical imagination and what are the conditions for it to exist in educational spaces? Drawing on the work of Cornelius Castoriadis and Chiara Bottici, I further develop the notion of the radical imagination as a collective, ethical practice that can play an activating role in our educational communities. This is the important work that needs to happen in education, wherein the field of education has to be reimagined and expanded-or ‘exploded’. I introduce the notion of Uprising and call for the formation of anarcho-syndicates (drawing mainly on the work of Rudolph Rocker), where education and thus the creation of alternative futures can happen, whilst being ‘worthy of the present’ (Braidotti, 2013). The third and last question ‘So, what do we do now? How can we put the radical imagination to work?’ is a call to action, further developing the notion of Uprising and expressing the need for ‘insurrectionary moments’ (Graeber, 2007). I draw on anarcho-syndicalist principles and principles of direct action: the boycott, the strike, and sabotage (Scalmer, 2023) and offer practical suggestions and examples of what we, as educational researchers and practitioners can do to put the radical imagination at work.

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