Affective Citizenship and Education in Multicultural Societies: Tensions, Ambivalences, and Possibilities

Abstract

This chapter focuses on discussing the concept of affective citizenship and its potential contribution to citizenship education discourses, especially in the context of multicultural societies. The chapter synthesizes the literature on affective citizenship and identifies examples that show how the ideal of the “affective citizen” is promoted in schools internationally. The discussion focuses in particular on two widespread emotional injunctions in multicultural societies: the calls for “embracing the other” and “coping with difference.” The analysis examines the underlying assumptions invoked by these emotional injunctions in relation to discourses of citizenship education. Possible tensions and ambivalent obligations