Utopian resistance, resistant utopia - on the justification of unconventional forms of political participation

Abstract

This essay sets out to substantiate unconventional forms of political participation such as protest and resistance as objectives of primarily political but also religious education in terms of democratic theory, pedagogy and subject didactics. To this end, the methodology and objectives of a specific form of political education, i. e. critical political education, are first discussed and then it is explained why, in the context of the crisis-ridden pre­sent, an orientation towards a utopian horizon is necessary for motivational reasons. This epistemological program is first demonstrated by means of a passage through motifs of political and sociological theory and then categori­cally made more specific through the reconstruction and expansion of a classical approach to critical political educa­tion. Finally, some shared concerns of political and religious education are presented.