Critical Articulations of Hope from the Margins of Arts Education

Book excerpt: Critical Articulations of Hope from the Margins of Arts Education presents perspectives on arts education from marginalized contexts and communities around the world. The contributors of this collection are educators, researchers, and artists who have devoted their research and practice to exploring how to utilize arts education to work toward justice, equity, sustainability, and hope when communities or groups of people are faced with most challenging and arduous situations. This book depicts hardships and struggles, including forced migration; institutionalized discrimination; economic, ecological and cultural oppression; hatred; prejudice and violence. However, it also celebrates the strength of individuals and communities who strive to make a difference and work towards fair and just cultures and communities. The book proposes that participation in the arts is a basic human right and that diverse cultures and the arts are an integral aspect of healthy lives and societies. Building on long traditions of arts education for social justice, critical pedagogy, and the pedagogy of hope, it facilitates international dialogue and explores how the theory and practice for arts education can be furthered by including insights emerging from practices evolving as sensitive to marginal conditions. Critical Articulations of Hope from the Margins of Arts Education will be of great interest to academics, researchers and postgraduate students of the arts, arts education, and education. It will also appeal to arts educators, community artists, sociologists, cultural workers and teacher training faculty and in service-learning and other pedagogy-related courses.