Education in Radical Uncertainty

Drawing upon the long tradition of recalcitrant thought in Western humanist scholarship, this book rethinks education and educational research at a time of intense social transformation. By revisiting a range of post-foundational ideas and developing their own methodological experiment, Stephen Carney and Ulla Ambrosius Madsen reimagine the possibilities for the comparative study of education. Exploring the experiences of young people in Denmark, South Korea and Zambia, this book illustrates how these very different contexts are increasingly connected by common narratives of purpose, as well as overheated promises of success.


Focusing on the writings of Jean Baudrillard, the authors examine them in the context of works by other theorists of modernity, to explore processes of simulation and disappearance that are shaping life worldwide. In the process, the authors paint a rich portrait of education and schooling as a site of joy, hope, pain and ambivalence. Encompassing both theoretical and methodological innovation, Education in Radical Uncertainty provides inspiration for scholars and students attempting to approach the fields of comparative education, education policy and youth studies anew.

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 a member of Executive Committee of the Comparative Education Society of Europe (CESE).


Ulla Ambrosius Madsen is Associate Professor of Educational Studies at Roskilde University, Denmark. She has carried out extensive field work in Mongolia, Eritrea, Nepal, South Korea, Zambia and Denmark with a focus on schooling and youth, research methodology and philosophy of education. She has written widely on these themes, especially in relation to the work of Jean Baudrillard.