Page 191 - Štrajn, Darko. 2018. Vzgoja družbe. Ljubljana: Pedagoški inštitut.
P. 191
mary 189
Education
of Society
The sociological notion of »risk society« is very much marked and
»contextualised« by developments in the framework of recent his-
tory of the industrialised world. This sociological concept, which was most
notably elaborated by Ulrich Beck, became nowadays almost a rather com-
mon notion of the ordinary language. Such a fact points towards a certain
comprehension of the contemporary reality in the (post)industrialised part
of the world. The reality of today is supposed to be a realm of a deep and de-
cisive economic, technological as well as social change. As Anthony Giddens
raises (in 1994) a question on what type of social order this is, or might it be-
come, he gives a rather vague answer, saying that it is »a global society, not in
the sense of a world society but as one of ‘indefinite space’.« Giddens’ further
elaboration of the answer touches upon the perception of the future, which
inevitably includes a positioning of youth. In his words the society (the so-
cial order) in question is »one where social bonds have effectively to be made,
rather than inherited from the past.« Such a hypotheses of course involves a
redefinition of the very understanding of youth (and the elderly people not
much less) as the institutions of welfare state are supposedly »transformed«,
which doesn’t only mean that they are running out of funding. But there is at
least one institution of the industrialised period, which is gaining the impor-
tance (in spite of its being in a permanent crisis) and it is being intensely dealt
with since it is widely believed that it brings solutions for the problems of
youth. This institution is school, which stands for education as a supposedly
universal answer for the »uncertain future.« Why is the future seen as »un-
certain« (more than it used to be?), considering the level of wealth and above
all, considering the potentials of the global economy? Some relevant conse-
Education
of Society
The sociological notion of »risk society« is very much marked and
»contextualised« by developments in the framework of recent his-
tory of the industrialised world. This sociological concept, which was most
notably elaborated by Ulrich Beck, became nowadays almost a rather com-
mon notion of the ordinary language. Such a fact points towards a certain
comprehension of the contemporary reality in the (post)industrialised part
of the world. The reality of today is supposed to be a realm of a deep and de-
cisive economic, technological as well as social change. As Anthony Giddens
raises (in 1994) a question on what type of social order this is, or might it be-
come, he gives a rather vague answer, saying that it is »a global society, not in
the sense of a world society but as one of ‘indefinite space’.« Giddens’ further
elaboration of the answer touches upon the perception of the future, which
inevitably includes a positioning of youth. In his words the society (the so-
cial order) in question is »one where social bonds have effectively to be made,
rather than inherited from the past.« Such a hypotheses of course involves a
redefinition of the very understanding of youth (and the elderly people not
much less) as the institutions of welfare state are supposedly »transformed«,
which doesn’t only mean that they are running out of funding. But there is at
least one institution of the industrialised period, which is gaining the impor-
tance (in spite of its being in a permanent crisis) and it is being intensely dealt
with since it is widely believed that it brings solutions for the problems of
youth. This institution is school, which stands for education as a supposedly
universal answer for the »uncertain future.« Why is the future seen as »un-
certain« (more than it used to be?), considering the level of wealth and above
all, considering the potentials of the global economy? Some relevant conse-
