Old and new generations in the 21st century

The matter of simply living together, on both a global and a local scale, is complicated by the cultural, economic, religious, technological, and ecological challenges that we face in today’s world. An educational–philosophical take on these complexities translates into reflections on, and attempts to answer, the questions that these challenges raise. How is the older generation to introduce a new generation into today’s world and to ‘prepare’ it for the world to come? What sense can be given to such introduction and ‘preparation’? Or in the more general terms of Friedrich Schleiermacher, ‘What indeed does the older generation intend to do with the younger generation?

The contributions in this book – originally presented during the 14th conference of the International Network of Philosophers of Education – address a broad range of philosophical issues related to the question of the educational relationship between generations today. The philosophical analysis offered by the authors in this volume creates openings, not only for other philosophers of education, but also for policy makers and practitioners. They serve as invitations, not only for further thinking but also for reconsidering educational practices; and most importantly, they generate new questions, for both today’s and tomorrow’s generations. This book was originally published as a special issue of Ethics and Education.

Stefan Ramaekers is an Associate Professor and the Head of the Laboratory for Education and Society (Research Group Education, Culture and Society), at KU Leuven, Belgium. His recent research has mainly focused on a critical investigation of the discourse of ‘parenting’ and the parent–child relationship, and on the ‘pedagogical’ significance of educational support. Recently, he has started collaborating with Dr. Naomi Hodgson on researching figurations of ‘parenting’ in cultural representations, such as film.