The following study is an attempt to describe different perspectives to handle the political dimension in EE/ESD, within literature in the field of environmental education (EE) and education for sustainable development (ESD).

This paper deals with how the concept ‘political’ can be understood theoretically and utilised as an analytic tool in empirical research. The reason for doing this mapping is that we will in the future do empirical investigation of teaching and learning of the political in EE/ESD classroom. Thus, this mapping can be seen as a research overview for our future empirical research: what research has been done and how can one characterize this research? In the process of mapping we used a discourse analysis looking for similarities and differences according to the following question:

1. How do the texts talk about the political?
2. How do the texts talk about the role of the political in the meaning making process?
3. What is, if any, the reasoning behind 1-2.

We perceive the ‘political’ as differences, e. g. different perspectives, opinions, values, interests etc. on issues that concerns the participants. Consequently the situation will lose it´s ‘political’ character if diverse opinions and perspectives become vague or indistinct.

The following study is an attempt to describe how different standpoints within literature in the field of environmental education (EE) and education for sustainable development (ESD) approach the political dimension. But it is also an attempt to see if there can be a fruitful contribution from the field of Educational Philosophy and Citizenship Education about the concept ‘political’, in order to see if there exists some perspective that is not visible within the field of EE/ESD. 

Arendt, Hannah (1977): Between Past and Future. Eight Exercises in Political Thought. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books. Arendt, H (2000) “Truth and politics,” in P. Baehr (ed.), The Portable Hannah Arendt (New York: Penguin, 2000), p. 556. Arendt 1977, s 241 Biesta, G.J.J. (2006) Beyond learning. Democratic education for a human future. Boulder, Co.: Paradigm Publishers. Biesta, G.J.J. & Burbules, N. (2003). Pragmatism and educational research. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield. Fien, J. (1993) Education for the Environment: critical curriculum theorising and environmental education (Geelong, Deakin University Press). Fien, J. (2000) Education for Environment: A critique-an analysis, Environmental Education Research (6)2, p 179-192 Heymann, & Wals, A (2002) Cultivating conflict and pluralism through dialogical deconstructing, In Röling & Pyborn (eds) Wheelbarrows full of frogs: social learning in rural resource management, Jickling, B. & Spork, H. (1998) Education for the environment: a critique, Environmental Education Research 4(3) pp. 309- 328. Lijmbach, S & Van Arcken, M & Van Koppen & Wals, A (2002) 'Your View of Nature is Not Mine!': Learning about pluralism in the classroom, Environmental Education Reasearch, 8(2), pp 121-132 Ljunggren, C (2009) Agonistic Recognition in Education: On Arendt’s Qualification of Political and Moral Meaning, Studies in Philosophy and Education An International Journal, 29(1) Mouffe, C (2005a) The Return of the Political. London: Verso, Mouffe, C (2005b) On the Political. Abingdon: Routledge. Wals, A & Jickling, B (2002) Sustainability” in higher education: From doublethink and newspeak to critical thinking and meaningful learning, International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, 3(3), pp 221-232 Wals, A (2010) “,Between knowing what is right and knowing that is it wrong to tell others what is right: on relativism, uncertainty and democracy in environmental and sustainability education, Environmental Education Research, 16(1), pp 143-151