Education and Cultural Citizenship

Nick is Senior Lecturer in Sociology at Nottingham University. He has written a number of books, including Culture, Ideology and Socialism (1995), Understanding Media Cultures (1995), The Transformation of the Media (1999), Making Sense of Men′s Lifestyle Magazines (2001), Cultural Citizenship (2003) and David Bowie: Fame, Sound and Vision (2006). He is also currently on the editorial board of the BSA journal Cultural Sociology and Keywords.

′Nick Stevenson strikes again, this time bringing the insights of critical social theory to bear upon the vexing issues of education, critical pedagogy and cultural citizenship. Stevenson is a powerful and engaging sociologist, and this book is his most politically provocative to date′ Anthony ElliottChair of Sociology, Flinders University, Australia and Visiting Research Professor, Open University ′Nick Stevenson skilfully draws upon a welter of leading thinkers from the liberal, socialist, critical-theory and multiculturalist canons in developing his argument that leading ideas about education are umbilically tied to notions of the good society. The pluralistic and undogmatic manner in which he sifts these accounts, and his insistence upon the centrality of democratic citizenship, make this a timely and important contribution to current debates about the nature and purpose of schools′ Michael KennyDepartment of Politics, University of Sheffield ′In Education and Cultural Citizenship Nick Stevenson presents a powerful argument concerning how education can and should promote democracy, accompanied by critiques of how all-too-often education fails to do so. Full of strong ideas, arguments, engagement with key thinkers, Stevenson′s book should be of great interest to all concerned with the nexus of democracy and education′ Douglas KellnerUCLA, author of Guys and Guns Amok and Media Spectacle and the Crisis of Democracy ′This is a challenging book that draws together and synthesises philosophical arguments from a variety of perspectives... Teachers, educational leaders and school governors who are interested in the wider remit of educational practice would be well advised to read and reflect upon what this book has to say′James CambridgeJournal of Research in International Education Nick Stevenson′s latest book, Education and Cultural Citizenship, performs a valuable service in that it highlights and funnels theories of education into questions of cultural and political participation... All in all, this is a well-written text with enough information and reflection to breathe fresh air into educational debates. Especially Stevenson′s insistence on rekindling the revolutionary flame of these educational theories vis-a`-vis what he calls the attempt to vocationalise secondary and tertiary education will do educational debates much good. One would only wish that as many university vice-chancellors and education ministry officials as possible would read this book and take it to heart. But this will probably remain wishful thinking. Holger BrielJournal of Language and Intercultural Communication

• IntroductionCultural Citizenship, Education and DemocracyRedefining the Good Society Democratic Socialism, Multiculturalism and the Third WayQuestions of Education Critical Pedagogy, Democracy and CapitalismEducation without Enemies or Borders Pragmaticism and Environmental Education Education in the Consumer and Information Age Education, Hope and the Politics of FearThe Resilience of Democracy and Cultural Citizenship