Coda

democratic citizenship education and the notion of "bare life"

Nuraan Davids

Yusef Waghid

pp. 221-230

in: Yusef Waghid, Nuraan Davids (eds), African democratic citizenship education revisited, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 2018

Abstract

The authors' understanding of democratic citizenship is that it ought to connect to the human experience along the lines of deliberative engagement, responsible action, co-belonging and equality of speech and action. In reflecting on the chapters in this anthology, they assert that there appears to be an overwhelming bias towards some kind of liberal view of democratic citizenship education—one that privileges individual rights and collective autonomy. In turn, they argue that it might be important to move beyond such an established notion of democratic citizenship education, especially in light of multifarious enactments of the concept on the continent. That is, considerations and enactments of individual rights and collective autonomy might not be sufficient in realising the type of democratic citizenship education necessary for African countries.