Delearning capitalism: Is degrowth a decolonial perspective in social science education?

Abstract

Highlights:

– Capitalism is part of the colonial system, and growth is one of its ideological principles.

– Critical views on growth and capitalism are related to more critical PBL projects.

– Supporters of Degrowth are closer to decolonial perspectives in education.

Purpose: We aim to locate degrowth approaches within decolonial social science education and to establish relationships between economic beliefs in the social representations of future teachers and their educational projections.

Design/methodology/approach: Theoretical approaches are developed to pinpoint the topic and focus on teachers’ imaginaries concerning economic notions such as growth and degrowth. The social representations of teachers in training are analysed to explore their epistemological, formal, and decision-making implications.

Findings: Critical views on growth and capitalism are related to acknowledging alternative economic paradigms and to a more critical, complex, action-oriented and justice-oriented projection of educational PBL. Supporters of degrowth are closer to decolonial perspectives in education.

Practical implications: We should revise teacher training programmes to better train future teachers in decolonial perspectives. More emphasis on colonial and structural cause-effect complex dynamics of capitalism in socioenvironmental problems is required. The hegemony of neoliberal collective imaginaries should be questioned through social, historical and economic narratives.