D.04. Educational Poverty, Symbolic Violence and Democratic Fragility

Educational poverty is a widespread phenomenon closely intertwined with social inequality, undermining the exercise of active citizenship and the very foundations of democracy. Evidence from OECD assessments of the competences of fifteen-year-olds (OECD-PISA) and adults aged 16 to 65 (OECD-PIAAC) reveals a strong correlation between educational disadvantage and low socioeconomic backgrounds. Individuals who lack the conceptual tools needed to critically engage with information circulating across traditional and social media, as well as with content embedded in AI models, are at risk of being subjected to the mechanisms of symbolic violence enacted by economic and political elites. In this sense, education systems that set modest learning goals may help reduce early school leaving but ultimately deprive low-SES students of the deeper forms of knowledge and competencies that even higher education institutions often fail to guarantee.

This panel invites contributors to explore strategies capable of countering the growing tendency within education to simplify forms of knowledge by offering impoverished and standardized content that constrains the development of critical reflexivity, particularly among those from socially disadvantaged contexts who lack alternative cultural resources. Submissions are especially encouraged on the following topics:

• Consequences of educational poverty on participation in political life

• Educational poverty and difficulties in escaping symbolic violence

• Narrowing of school and university curricula and risks for democracy

• Impact of cultural deprivation on the use of AI

• Role of teachers, professors, and public intellectuals in fostering the critical thinking of low-SES students

Both theoretical contributions and empirical research on these topics are welcome.