Practice of Equality

This book is the first to focus specifically on the highly original contribution to the field of Critical Pedagogy made by the sometimes «irritable» French philosopher Jacques Rancière. The book represents a significant addition to the growing body of work on Rancière as well as to the field of Critical Pedagogy. While introducing and contextualising Rancière for those unfamiliar with him, the book also develops an understanding of the singularity of his conception of pedagogy for those already acquainted with his work. Central to the book is Rancière’s vision of education as a «practice of equality» – a method grounded in an assumption of intellectual equality between students and teachers. Throughout the chapters of the book, the contemporary relevance of this vision is drawn out for educators in schools and universities, adult and popular educators, as well as for political activists. For anyone and everyone with an interest in teaching and learning, this book contains vital insights for the survival and development of education as a democratic, critical and emancipatory project.

Stephen Cowden is a Senior Lecturer in Social Work at Coventry University. He has a long standing interest in the area of Critical Pedagogy and is one of the editors of the «New Disciplinary Perspectives in Education» series. In 2013 he co-authored the book Acts of Knowing: Critical Pedagogy In, Against and Beyond the University. He also writes on Social Work theory and practice and on the sociology of Religious Fundamentalism.

David Ridley is an independent researcher and journalist who has also taught various subjects at Coventry University for the last six years. In the field of education studies, as well as his work on Jacques Rancière, David is also currently finishing a book on John Dewey, and, inspired by the Lucas Plan, on the idea of a «socially-useful university».