The Planetary Justice Crisis, Structural Racism and Sustainability Education

Abstract

We follow two main arguments in our contribution: First, we contend that there is a vital need to connect theories around racism to discussions about the Planetary Ecological Crisis. This is a link that has hardly been addressed in German-speaking social science research on racism. And secondly, we argue for a critical engagement with the workings of racism within Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), an educational field with a strongly normative underpinning that (cl)aims to work for a “better future for all”. Questions on how the futurity inherent in this claim and the divisions within the “all” have colonial and racist underpinnings are imperative for an engagement with ESD.

Bildung für eine nachhaltige Entwicklung im Umbruch?

“…While there is still research that assumes technology is neutral and aims to identify "what works" in the implementation of new technology, there is now a large body of work that engages with the cultural, social, affective, economic and political implications of technological upheavals. This critical work has, however, rarely considered the planetary dimensions of edtech (with notable exceptions, e.g., Carstensen-Egwuom & Schröder, 2022;Grünberger, 2021;Piattoeva, 2021;Scherrer, 2022). A leading book on digitalisation and liberal arts education, for example, states:…”