Analytic philosophy of education and the postcolonial moment

Daniels, S. and Enslin, P. (2023) Analytic philosophy of education and the postcolonial moment. Theory and Research in Education, (doi: 10.1177/14778785231184870) (Early Online Publication)

Abstract

Of all possible future directions for analytic philosophy of education, few are as overdue as thoroughly confronting the legacy of colonialism and the postcolonial moment. Rightly credited with establishing the credibility and standing of philosophy of education, by 1980, analytic philosophy of education was the dominant though not unchallenged approach to philosophy of education in the Anglo-American world. While its dominance has declined and philosophy of education has become more diverse, analytic philosophy of education retains a strong international presence in educational theory. By contrast, postcolonial theory – the critical study of colonialism and its aftermath – has attracted growing interest across many academic disciplines, developing from the 1970s onwards from its early location in literary and cultural studies. After outlining the emergence of analytic philosophy of education, and the subsequent reshaping of philosophy of education, we describe postcolonial theory and the place of education in both colonialism and postcolonial thought. Having thus located analytic philosophy of education and the postcolonial turn in their own times and contexts, we consider the postcolonial challenge to Western philosophy and how analytic philosophy of education could respond, developing our stance on a postcolonial future direction for analytic philosophy of education. We argue that the future of philosophy of education is now inescapably postcolonial and that it should retain its analytical strengths.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Early Online Publication
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Enslin, Professor Penny and Daniels, Dr Stephen
• Authors: Daniels, S., and Enslin, P.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > School of Education
• Journal Name: Theory and Research in Education
• Publisher: SAGE Publications
• ISSN: 0305-0068
• ISSN (Online): 1360-0486
• Published Online: 04 July 2023
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2023 The Authors
• First Published: First published in Theory and Research in Education 2023
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License