ABSTRACT:
In light of socio-political dynamics at play in contemporary Thailand, higher education (HE) is becoming an important site for citizenship learning. This article interrogates priorities and practices of civic/citizenship education in Thai universities. Data was collected through in-depth interviews with leadership in five public universities across Thailand. Findings suggest that civic/citizenship education serves various goals. Despite the call for HE to respond
to societal crisis, the discursive practices of formal civic/citizenship education in Thai universities function not only to maintain the state ideology by producing responsible citizens but also serve to
supply adaptable and voluntary-minded employees for the market. Thai universities also appropriates civic/citizenship learning for their own institutional branding. In the context where democracy is
undermined, civic/citizenship education is depoliticised.
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Author:
Dr. Vachararutai Boontinand
Director of Institute of Human Rights and Peace Studies, Mahidol University
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Link to the article: https://doi.org/10.1080/03057925.2021.1932420
Request to access full article at: vachararutai.boo@mahidol.ac.th