Avoiding the devil

peace and the educationalisation of social problems

Resumo

The educationalisation of social problems serves as favoured instrument to transform big societal topics, e.g., peace, social justice, equality, equity and equal opportunities, inclusion, recognition, freedom and liberty, into problems of education and educational research. These topics then turn into educational visions and missions. However, they often lack their negatively connoted counterparts: war, injustice, inequality, but also failure, disappointment, even the subversive movement against its own honourable intentions. By examining the epistemological, the sociological and the historical perspective, this paper illustrates how the epistemological profile and the educationalisation of social problems contribute to constructing both positive, forward-looking theological and teleological patterns while masking the other side, the Devil. It concludes that longing for peace might just be part of the desire to create an educational vision of a perfect and harmonious world.