Fundamentalism and Education

A Case-study in Social Ambiguity

Bibliographic Data

ID2920256
AuthorsJohn Knight (0000-0001-9113-0510, The University of Queensland)
Year1985
Volume5
Issue1
Pages19-38
Publication date1985-04-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueDiscourse Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0159-6306 • E-ISSN: 1469-3739
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/0159630850050202
OpenAlexW2135639336, W4239368734
LanguageEN
Citations received5
References cited18

Religious fundamentalism has played a significant role in the contemporary conserviative attack on public education. For those who are concerned to defend even the limited degree of liberal or progressive education now existing, it is essential to understand the nature and implications of this populist and reactionary social phenomenon whose appeal is enhanced by the current social and economic crisis. Using the Seventh‐ day Adventist Church in case study fashion, the article draws upon sect literature, documents and interviews, to outline normative Adventist assumptions and practice in schooling. On the basis of this analysis, an explanation of the ambivalence of fundamentalism to education is offered. It is argued that while fundamentalism is typically antithetical to social pluralism, secular or humanistic morality and lifestyles and progressive education, it supports the unequal economic and social structures of contemporary western society. Hence fundamentalism typically seeks to control the process and substance of education, not to eliminate it

Ambiguity · Ambivalence · Appeal · Environmental ethics · Epistemology · Fundamentalism · Normative · Political science · Reactionary · Social science · Sociology · Critical and Liberation Pedagogy · Diverse Education Studies and Reforms · Law · Philosophy · Psychology · Religious Education and Schools · Social Psychology

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