Guarding the boundaries: a Swedish policy debate about geography and education for sustainable development
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: In this article, we analyse how educational policy debates regarding specific school subjects are related to the demarcation of science. Utilising boundary-work theory we analyse material from a later abandoned revision process for the Swedish upper secondary school curriculum in 2004–2006. During this process a new subject – Sustainable Development – was proposed by the Swedish National Agency for Education. As a consequence, the Geography subject, potentially a suitable arena to naturally handle education for sustainable development, would be given a very peripheral role in the upper secondary school curriculum. From the suggestion a debate about scientific boundaries arose, with arguments that may be traced back to the theoretical concepts; ‘exclusion’, ‘expansion’ and ‘protection of autonomy’.
Institution: Umeå University
Language: English
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Quality education
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W4406845979