Rethinking the state and education in conflict-affected contexts a co-constructed auto-ethnography of supportive mentorship and academic friendship

The relationship between education and the state is a complex one in the context of conflict-affected contexts. Conflict itself, and education’s function within it, is often mediated and influenced by a range of political, cultural, social and economic interests and dynamics, embedded in local, national, regional and global struggles over power and influence. Because of this, Roger Dale’s education questions and his criticism of educationalist, methodologically nationalist and methodologically statist approaches to understanding the role, function and position of education in relation to its citizens, are particularly relevant. In such contexts, competing interests, actors and agendas complexify education’s mandate and function in society, and result in an education system that is often both emblematic and constitutive of the cultural political economy of the conflict itself.

In this short piece, we seek to highlight the contributions which Roger Dale’s scholarship has made to our own understanding of these dynamics in conflict-affected contexts. While Dale himself has not done empirical work in such contexts, his theories and ideas have had a significant impact on the way a legion of critical scholars—ourselves included—have come to understand and interrogate the relationship between education and the state in times of conflict and crisis.

As a form of writing, we have chosen to include a conversational style of co-constructed critical...