LAUSR

‘Anywheres’ look to global citizenship, whilst the ‘Somewheres’ treasure their local and national allegiances. How these two opposing forces can be reconciled will surely be the greatest challenge to our notions of what citizenship will both confer and demand. The book also does not really address the problems of students emerging from schools into a world where debate is anything but reasonable, critical, perspectival and rational. Political debate has been on a downward spiral of late, with name-calling increasingly used as a substitute for reasoned argument. How are these young critical thinkers going to cope in the brave new world of safe spaces and no-platforming? Responsible citizenship is a worthy aim in itself, and Citizenship Education is an attempt by governments to mandate schools to do their bit as shapers of young minds. The book’s editors could have done two things to make this volume a much more interesting and accessible read. Firstly, they could have purged the various contributions of stating the same repetitive claims about their subject and making too many unprovable generalisations. Once would have been enough! And secondly, they could have invited more controversy and unorthodoxy in their choices of contributors and content. I look forward to the sequel, if that is what it can deliver.