The reactionary use of concepts of secularism, pluralism and freedom of expression: implications for education studies

Karl Kitching

doi:10.1080/03323315.2024.2359690

The reactionary use of concepts of secularism, pluralism and freedom of expression: implications for education studies

Karl Kitching

Teacher Education

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

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Abstract

This paper is the text of a keynote address given at the Education Studies Association of Ireland Conference on March 31st 2023. Drawing on diverse examples of reactionary politics in Ireland and the UK such as protests against queer-inclusive education, the maintenance of sectarian and Catholic majoritarian schooling, and the use of ideas of 'free speech' arguments to shut down anti-racist education, Karl Kitching argues for vigilance against the use of ostensibly liberal ideas about secularism, pluralism and free expression to damage collective solidarity, equality and democracy in education and wider society.

Original language	English
Article number	2359690
Number of pages	12
Journal	Irish Educational Studies
Early online date	8 Jun 2024
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1080/03323315.2024.2359690
Publication status	E-pub ahead of print - 8 Jun 2024

Bibliographical note

Karl Kitching is Professor of Public Education at University of Birmingham, UK. He has published several papers on questions of race and religion in education in Ireland. These include the books The Politics of Compulsive Education: Racism and Learner-Citizenship (Routledge 2014) and Childhood, Religion and School Injustice (Cork University Press 2020). He is currently leading a Leverhulme Trust funded study titled 'Free Expression at School? The Making of Youth Engagements with Race and Faith', collaborating with Prof Reza Gholami, Dr Aslı Kandemir and Dr Md. Shajedur Rahman.

Keywords

secularism
pluralism
freedom of speech
reactionary politics
education

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Social Sciences(all)
Education
Social Sciences (miscellaneous)
Sociology and Political Science

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Access to Document

10.1080/03323315.2024.2359690Licence: Creative Commons: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs (CC BY-NC-ND)

KitchingK2024reactionaryFinal published version, 1.3 MBLicence: Creative Commons: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs (CC BY-NC-ND)

2 Other report

'Free' Expression at School? The Making of Youth Engagements with Race and Faith: Final Project Report and Recommendations
Kitching, K., Gholami, R., Kandemir, A. & Rahman, S., 20 May 2025, University of Birmingham. 40 p.
Research output: Book/Report › Other report

Open Access
File
Addressing the Concept and Evidence of Institutional Racism in Education in Ireland: Proceedings from the Racism and Education Conference and Networking Event 2012
Kitching, K. & Curtin, A., 1 Sept 2012, 43 p.
Research output: Book/Report › Other report

File

1 Finished

Free Expression at School? The Making of Youth Engagements with Race and Faith
Kitching, K. (Principal Investigator) & Gholami, R. (Co-Investigator)
Leverhulme Trust
1/09/22 → 31/05/25
Project: Research

Cite this

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The reactionary use of concepts of secularism, pluralism and freedom of expression: implications for education studies

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

UN SDGs

Access to Document

Fingerprint

Research output

'Free' Expression at School? The Making of Youth Engagements with Race and Faith: Final Project Report and Recommendations

Addressing the Concept and Evidence of Institutional Racism in Education in Ireland: Proceedings from the Racism and Education Conference and Networking Event 2012

Projects

Free Expression at School? The Making of Youth Engagements with Race and Faith

Cite this