As a flashpoint for specific instances of conflict, Muslim sartorial practices have at times been seen as being antagonistic to ''western'' ideas of gender equality, secularity, and communicative practices. In light of this, I seek to highlight the ways in which such moments of antagonism actually might be understood on ''cosmopolitical'' terms, that is, through a framework informed by a critical and political approach to cosmopolitanism itself. Thus, through an ''agonistic cosmopolitics'' I here argue for a more robust political understanding of what a cosmopolitan orientation to cultural difference can offer education. The paper moves from a focus on harmony to agonism and from cosmopolitanism to the cosmopolitical, and within each I discuss the questions of democracy and universality, respectively. Drawing on, the work of Chantal Mouffe, Judith Butler and Bonnie Honig, I discuss the basis upon which our agonistic interactions can inform education in promoting better ways of living together. This requires, in my view, nothing less than a clear understanding of the very difficulties of pluralism and a questioning of some of the ways we often reflect on the political dimension of these difficulties. I offer some reflections on what an agonistic cosmopolitics has to offer the debates surrounding the wearing of various forms of Muslim dress in schools in the conclusion. My overall claim is that cosmopolitanism as a set of ideas that seek more peaceful forms of living together on a global scale is in need of a theoretical framework that faces directly the difficulties of living in a dissonant world.Our experience of living in a pluralist world has generated numerous theories that have focused their sights on the question of how to live well, and peacefully, within culturally

In this paper I draw some distinctions between the terms ''cultural diversity'' and ''plurality'' and argue that a radical conception of plurality is needed in order both to reimagine the boundaries of democratic education and to address more fully the political aspects of conflict that plurality gives rise to. This paper begins with a brief exploration of the usages of the term diversity in European documents that promote intercultural education as a democratic vehicle for overcoming social conflict between different cultural groups. In contradistinction to these usages, this paper calls for a more robust conception of plurality, one that does not simply denote membership in different cultural groupings but is rooted in the human condition and based on a conception of uniqueness. Following the work of Hannah Arendt and feminist philosopher Adriana Cavarero, I explore how the appearance of unique beings in specific contexts can be understood as an eminently political act and I contend that such a view leads to a better educational understanding of conflict and contestation. The paper sketches the contours of democratic plurality along this line of thought and discusses how these new boundaries have implications for education's relation to democracy.

No abstract

`Bringing more than I contain': ethics, curriculum and the pedagogical demand for altered egos SHARON TODD Building from the notion that learning occasions an`ontological' violence, this paper examines the ethical relations implicated in pedagogy and curriculum. In particular, it explores ways in which pedagogy is rooted in a demand for students to alter their egos, and, thereby, draws attention to the delicate nature of the teaching±learning relationship. Appealing to the ethical philosophy of Emmanuel Levinas, it discusses how ethical, non-violent relations are made possible in the day-to-day encounters between teachers and students. A reading of one of Melanie Klein's case studies highlights the speci®c ways teachers participate in ego-alteration at the same time as they participate in conditions for establishing ethical relations. The paper concludes with a discussion of these conditions and the role that curriculum plays in responsible teaching.