Abstract
This special issue of Educational Philosophy and Theory originated from dialogic roundtables held at Manchester Metropolitan University where ideas and a plurality of views about democracy and education across the lifecourse were critically interrogated. The call for papers asked for contributions that revisit, challenge, provoke and reinvigorate the thinking, theorisation and practices of democracy in all education contexts, from early childhood through to lifelong learning. The interrogation of democracy as a fundamental purpose for, and practice of, education is timely and urgent in the current context of converging global crises, neoliberalism and the domination of economic interests in education policy, practice and institutions. Papers in this special issue explore a variety of theories and practices of democracy in very different political, cultural and historical contexts. They grapple with complexity and problematise constructions of democracy and in common consider transformational possibilities for democratic practice and politics in education.
