From "education for sustainable development" to "education for the end of the world as we know it"

• Published in: Educational philosophy and theory Vol. 54; no. 3; pp. 274 - 287
• Main Authors: Stein, Sharon, Andreotti, Vanessa, Suša, Rene, Ahenakew, Cash, Čajková, Tereza
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Abingdon Routledge 23.02.2022; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Climate; climate change; coloniality; complicity; Criticism; Denial; Education; Educational Philosophy; Foreign Policy; Futures (of Society); global challenges; Ignorance; Modernity; Moral Values; Morality; Neoliberalism; Social Problems; Social Responsibility; Sustainability; Sustainable Development; Teaching Methods
• ISSN: 0013-1857; 1469-5812
• DOI: 10.1080/00131857.2020.1835646

In this article, we address the limitations of sustainable development as an orienting educational horizon of hope and change, given that mainstream development presumes the possibility of perpetual growth and consumption on a finite planet. Facing these limitations requires us to consider the inherently violent and unsustainable nature of our modern-colonial modes of existence. Thus, we propose a shift from "education for sustainable development" to "education for the end of the world as we know it." We contend that the predicament we face is not primarily rooted in ignorance and thus solvable with more knowledge, nor primarily rooted in immorality and thus solvable with more normative values; rather, it is rooted in denials that stem from harmful desires for and investments in the continuity of the securities and satisfactions promised by modernity-coloniality. Faced with these denials, we emphasize a collective need to "grow up" so that we might "show up" differently to do the work that is needed as we face unprecedented global challenges.