Theoretical Exploration of Agonistic Democratic Education for Adults in an Era of Democratic Crisis: Focusing on Chantal Mouffe's Radical Democracy

Abstract

Recently, Korean society has shown growing signs of political hostility and social polarization. There is a pronounced tendency to divide society into "us" and "them" based on political partisanship, fostering strong in-group identification while treating out-groups with hostility. This study posits that adult democratic education is essential to addressing this crisis of democracy and seeks to explore the potential of agonistic democratic education through the lens of Chantal Mouffe’s theory of radical democracy. Adopting a theoretical approach, this research aims to provide conceptual and practical implications for adult education. The main findings are as follows: First, adults have largely been marginalized and depoliticized in democratic education to date — a key consequence of neoliberal economization. Second, the (re)politicization of adult education through agonistic democratic education emerges as a vital educational response to the current crisis. Third, agonistic democratic education is defined by its commitment to agonistic pluralism, the overcoming of economized adult education, and a departure from moralized democratic education. Fourth, as practical measures for implementing agonistic democratic education, this study proposes cultivating political competence, organizing agonistic public learning spaces, fostering agonistic emotional education, and facilitating the political subjectification of silent citizens.