The Political and Politics in Education for Climate Change: New Wine in Old Bottles

The chapter centres on the analysis of the political and politics within proposals about education for climate change. It begins with the conception of the political as an ontological dimension constitutive of the social, and therefore of the educational; and of politics as the domain of what is instituted through the set of institutions, decisions, relationships, and political practices in society. Proposals from various multilateral organizations and scholars are discussed, as well as those from civil society organizations, in order to determine whether they are oriented toward the demands of the hegemonic system or are framed as disruptive alternatives. It concludes that most of the proposals circulating in specialized literature and reaching schools aim to hegemonize an institutionalized discursive configuration through a refined selection of meticulously chosen and polished elements that eliminate, exclude, or conceal others deemed unnecessary, irrelevant, or inconvenient. These exclusions correspond to the political, ethical, and social dimensions that bear upon the possibilities of constructing educational practices that disrupt the existing social order.