Bloomsbury Education in Radical Uncertainty: Transgression in Theory and Method (New Directions in Comparative and International Education)

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 The book explores how the initial interest in Baudrillards work has been replaced by skepticism, and how the field of educational studies has been complicit in marginalizing his influence.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. Review "This is a courageous book that will make readers think differently about educational research. Carney and Madsen present a profound epistemological argument for alternative ways of doing research, and they also actually do it. Aesthetically curated, juxtaposed, designed in poetic forms and complemented by drawings and sketches, little stories lead to an extremely coherent portrait of the complex world of schooled life in three sites. A must read!" --Jason Beech, Senior Lecturer in Education Policy, Monash University, Australia"Once in a while a comparative and international education book emerges that is a startling breath of fresh air. Education in Radial Uncertainty is such a book. Using fragmented writing, the authors have produced a readerly text that pushes us to question our understandings of contemporary education in unapologetically transgressive and affirmative ways." --Marianne A. Larsen, Professor Emeritus of Education, Western University, Canada"Uninspired by status-quo social science? Unable to shake uncertainty but hesitant to surrender to the unknowable? Carney and Madsen draw upon decades of collaboration to deliver a profound riddle for contemporary educational research. With each turning page, this 21st century koan seeps in, all written with enough subtle humor and sparkle to suggest that the abyss is gazing back into us with a smile." --Jeremy Rappleye, Associate Professor of Education, Kyoto University, Japan"Education in Radical Uncertainty is written with intense love, passion, and pain. It calls on each of us to face the world the way it is - finite, fractured, and fragmented - refusing the delusional pursuit of (re)making it the way we want it." --Iveta Silova, Professor, Arizona State University, USA About the Author Stephen Carney is Professor of Educational Studies at Roskilde University, Denmark. His research focuses on global educational reform and has involved ethnographic work in Denmark, England, Nepal and China. He is active in the Comparative and International Education Society (CIES), especially its Special Interest Group concerned with 'Post-foundational approaches to comparative and international education'. He is also President of the Comparative Education Society in Europe (CESE).Ulla Ambrosius Madsen is Associate Professor of Educational Studies at Roskilde University, Denmark. She has carrie