The Intersection Between Political Theory and Critical Pedagogy: Jacques Rancière

Year 2025, Issue: 85, 139 - 152, 20.07.2025

Ömür Birler

https://doi.org/10.51290/dpusbe.1631236

Abstract

BBeginning with Ancient Greek thought, political theory tradition always privileged the relationship between education and political regimes, contributing to the literature with countless works on how educational practices could foster democracy. Similarly, critical pedagogy discipline meticulously tackled the same issue, though differing from political theory, its focus has been on how democratic practices could improve the field of education. However, even today, divergent academic circles address these two disciplines, which have the potential to complement each other both methodologically and theoretically within the framework of this shared theme. The aim of this study is to introduce political theory researchers to the debates in critical pedagogy by focusing on Jacques Rancière, who has been the subject of numerous studies in both fields in recent years. To that aim, this study will first briefly touch upon Rousseau, Kant, and Marx, three thinkers that critical pedagogy considers as the building blocks in the relationship between education and democracy, and will focus on how the Enlightenment understanding of education handled the question of emancipation in a contradictory manner. Subsequently, it will return to the manifestation of this question in Rancière’s theory of democracy and analytically present the prolific literature produced by critical pedagogy research.

Keywords

Jacques Rancière , Critical pedagogy , Democracy , Equality , Emancipation

Siyasal Kuram ve Eleştirel Pedagojinin Kesişim Noktası: Jacques Rancière

Abstract

Siyasal kuram geleneği Antik Yunan düşüncesinden başlayarak eğitim ve siyasal rejimler arasındaki ilişkiye ayrıcalıklı bir yer vermiş, eğitsel pratiklerin özellikle demokrasinin gelişimine nasıl katkıda bulunabileceği üzerine sayısız eseri literatüre kazandırmıştır. Benzer bir biçimde eleştirel pedagoji disiplini de bu konuya titizlikle yaklaşmış, ancak siyaset kuramından farklı olarak demokratik uygulamaların eğitim alanını nasıl geliştireceği sorusuna odaklanmıştır. Bu tematik ortaklık çerçevesinde birbirlerini gerek yöntemsel gerekse kuramsal olarak tamamlama potansiyeli apaçık olan bu iki disiplin, günümüzde dahi ayrışan akademik çevreler tarafından ele alınmaktadır. Bu çalışmanın amacı her iki alanda da geçtiğimiz yıllarda çok sayıda araştırmaya konu olan Jacques Rancière’i merkeze alarak eleştirel pedagoji alanında yürütülen tartışmaları siyaset kuramı araştırmacılarına tanıtmaktır. Bu hedef doğrultusunda çalışma öncelikle eleştirel pedagojinin eğitim-demokrasi ilişkisinde önemli yapı taşları olarak gördüğü üç düşünür olan Rousseau, Kant ve Marx’a yönelik analizlerine kısaca değinecek, Aydınlanma döneminin eğitim anlayışında açığa çıkan özgürleşme sorunsalının nasıl çelişkili bir biçimde ele alındığına odaklanacaktır. Ardından bu sorunsalın Rancière’in demokrasi kuramında nasıl tezahür ettiğine dönecek ve bu konuda eleştirel pedagoji araştırmalarının ortaya koyduğu son derece zengin literatürü analitik bir biçimde sunacaktır.

Keywords

Jacques Rancière , Eleştirel pedagoji , Demokrasi , Eşitlik , Özgürleşme

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