Throughout history individual and collective narratives have been used in struggles for justice. We draw on Sen’s theory of justice to examine the potential of narratives in teaching and researching for social justice. Human rights are presented as powerful ethical claims that can be critically examined by learners to consider their rights and responsibilities to others, at scales from the local to the global. One life history is used as an illustrative example to examine the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948 and its possible meanings for learners in China and globally. This article discusses the strengths and limitations of narratives as research and pedagogical tools in understanding justice, human rights and inequalities; in stimulating solidarity and our common humanity; and in enabling learners to explore their multiple identities. We conclude by making the case for human rights as principles for learning and living together in overlapping communities of fate.
BaildonMSimJB-Y (2010) The dilemmas of Singapore’s national education in the global society. In: ReidAGillJSearsA (eds) Globalization, the Nation-State and the Citizen: Dilemmas and Directions for Civics and Citizenship Education. New York and London: Routledge, 80–96.
2.
BanksJA (2002) Race, knowledge construction and education in the USA: lessons from history. Race Ethnicity and Education5(1): 7–27.
3.
BanksJBanksCMCortesCHahnCMerryfieldMMoodleyKMurphy-ShigematsuSOslerAParkCParkerW (2005) Democracy and Diversity: Principles and Concepts for Educating Citizens in a Global Age. Seattle, WA: Center for Multicultural Education, University of Washington.
4.
BellJS (2002) Narrative inquiry: more than just telling stories. TESOL Quarterly36(2): 207–213.
5.
BicknellJ (2004) Self-knowledge and the limitations of narrative. Philosophy and Literature28(2): 406–416.
BunchCFrostS (2000) Women’s human rights: an introduction. In: KramaraeCSpenderD (eds) Routledge International Encyclopedia of Women: Global Women’s issues and Knowledge. New York: Routledge.Available at: http://www.cwgl.rutgers.edu/globalcenter/whr.html (accessed 27 June 2011).
8.
CamiciaSPFranklinB (2010) Curriculum reform in a globalized world: the discourses of cosmopolitanism and community. London Review of Education8(2): 93–104.
9.
ChaYWongSMeyerJW (1992) Values education in the curriculum: some comparative empirical data. In: MeyerJWKamensDHBenavotA (eds) School Knowledge for the Masses. Washington, DC: Falmer Press, 139–151.
10.
ConnellyFMClandininDJ (1990) Stories of experience and narrative inquiry. Educational Researcher19(5): 2–14.
11.
DelantyG (2003) Citizenship as a learning process: disciplinary citizenship versus cultural citizenship. International Journal of Lifelong Education22(5): 597–605.
12.
DenningS (2001) The springboard: how storytelling ignites action in knowledge-era organizations. Journal of Organizational Change Management14(6): 609–614.
13.
FlanaganOJ (1992) Consciousness Reconsidered. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.
14.
HeaterD (2002) World Citizenship: Cosmopolitan Thinking and its Opponents. London: Continnum.
15.
JosselsonR (ed.) (1996) Ethics and Process in the Narrative Study of Lives. Newbury Park, CA: SAGE.
16.
LaqueurWRubinB (1979) The Human Rights Reader. New York: Meridian.
MartinSFengA (2006) The construction of citizenship and nation building: the Singapore case. In: AlredGByramMFlemingM (eds) Education for Intercultural Citizenship: Concepts and Comparisons. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters, 47–66.
19.
MertusJFlowersN (2008) Local Action, Global Change: A Handbook on Women’s Human Rights. Boulder, CO: Paradigm.
20.
OslerA (2010) Students’ Perspectives on Schooling. Maidenhead: Open University Press.
21.
OslerA (2011a) Education policy, social cohesion and citizenship. In: NewmanIRatcliffeP (eds) From Community to Social Cohesion. Bristol: Policy Press, 185–205.
22.
OslerA (2011b) Teacher interpretations of citizenship education: national identity, cosmopolitan ideals, and political realities. Journal of Curriculum Studies43(1): 1–24.
23.
OslerAStarkeyH (2003) Learning for cosmopolitan citizenship: theoretical debates and young people’s experiences. Educational Review55(3): 243–254.
24.
OslerAStarkeyH (2005) Changing Citizenship: Democracy and Inclusion in Education. Maidenhead: Open University Press.
25.
OslerAStarkeyH (2009) Citizenship education in France and England: contrasting approaches to national identities and diversity. In: BanksJA (ed.) The Routledge International Companion to Multicultural Education. New York: Routledge, 334–347.
26.
OslerAStarkeyH (2010) Teachers and Human Rights Education. Stoke-on-Trent: Trentham.
27.
OslerAVincentK (2002) Citizenship and the Challenge of Global Education. Stoke-on-Trent: Trentham.
28.
PavlenkoA (2002) Narrative study: whose story is it, anyway?TESOL Quarterly36(2): 213–218.
29.
PeshkinA (1988) In search of subjectivity – one’s own. Educational Researcher17(7): 17–22.
30.
RawlsJ (2000 [1971]) A Theory of Justice. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
31.
RiessmanC (1991) When gender is not enough: women interviewing women. In: LorberJFarrellS (eds) The Social Construction of Gender. Newbury Park, CA: SAGE, 217–236.
32.
RyanP (2006) Interculturality, identity and citizenship education in Mexico. In AlredGByramMFlemingM (eds) Education for Intercultural Citizenship: Concepts and Comparisons. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters, 11–22.
33.
Savin-BadenMVan NiekerkL (2007) Narrative inquiry: theory and practice. Journal of Geography in Higher Education31(3): 459–472.
34.
SenA (1992) Inequality Re-examined.Oxford: Oxford University Press.
35.
SenA (2010) The Idea of Justice. London: Penguin.
36.
SnowdenD (2002) Narrative patterns: uses of story in the third age of knowledge management. Journal of Information and Knowledge Management1(1): 1–6.
37.
StanleySWiseL (1993) Breaking Out Again: Feminist Ontology and Epistemology, 2nd edn. London: Routledge.
38.
StarkeyH (2007) Language education, identities and citizenship: developing cosmopolitan perspectives. Language and Intercultural Communication7(1): 56–71.
WanM (2004) Ethnic diversity and citizenship education in the People’s Republic of China. In: BanksJA (ed.) Diversity and Citizenship Education: Global Perspectives, 1st edn. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 355–374.
43.
WeatherleyR (2008) Defending the nation: the role of nationalism in Chinese thinking on human rights. Democratization15(2): 342–362.
44.
WitherellCNoddingsN (eds) (1991) Stories Lives Tell: Narrative and Dialogue in Education. New York: Teachers College Press.
45.
WongS (1992) The evolution and organization of the social science curriculum. In JWMeyerDHKamensABenavot (eds) School Knowledge for the Masses. Washington, DC: Falmer Press, 124–138.
46.
ZhouNanzhao (1994) Educational rights: perspectives and practices in China. In: RayD (ed.) Education for Human Rights. Paris: UNESCO.
