Constructing solidarities at work: Relationality and the methods of emancipatory education

Abstract

Taking as its starting point the decline of ideological and class identifications in the United Kingdom, this article presents the case for reviving a model of emancipatory education to develop solidaristic relationships at work. The central argument of this article is that emancipatory education methods offer useful tools to build relationality that can act as a basis for mobilising solidarity in the UK context. In order to analyse the psychological and political impact of emancipatory education methods, this article explores the conceptual and methodological parallels between emancipatory education and psychoanalysis, namely, their capacities to build relationality between people through consciousness raising and collective problem solving using dialogic methods. This article goes on to argue that in the absence of class identity or shared ideology, emancipatory education practices offer realistic opportunities for working people to formulate conceptions of common interests and build solidaristic relationships sufficient to mobilise collective organisation and action.