Education in Radical Uncertainty

Abstract

In Education in Radical Uncertainty, Stephen Carney and Ulla Ambrosius Madsen return to the philosophical and social critique of Jean Baudrillard and relate his work to the field of education, particularly to comparative studies of youth and schooling in different parts of the world. The book explores how the initial interest in Baudrillard’s work has been replaced by skepticism, and how the field of educational studies has been complicit in marginalizing his influence. The authors argue that labelling Baudrillard as the most extreme of the post-modernists is both misguided and unfortunate, denying a generation of education researchers an engagement with insights that are both profound and challenging. They do so by exploring three of his key ideas: simulation leading to spectacle and seduction; integral reality leading to disappearance; and evil, reversibility and return. The authors situate Baudrillard's works in the broader context of works by other post-foundational theorists, such as Michel Foucault and Gilles Deleuze, as well as exploring them in relation to empirical studies. Considering ethnographic work with youth in three quite different contexts - Denmark, South Korea and Zambia – the authors use a range of data to bring the different field studies alive and to contrast them with conventional portraits of the Global South. Encompassing both theoretical and methodological innovation, Education in Radical Uncertainty provides inspiration for scholars and students attempting to approach fields of comparative education and youth studies anew