#76 Rethinking outreach civic education

Outreach civic education is a clever concept. At the heart of the idea is the conviction that it makes no sense to wait for everyone to find us in the context of political education - but that educational opportunities must be brought to where people are. That is right, important and good. After all, political education is about ALL people and not just those who are interested in our offers on their own. If we look at what is done under the heading of outreach education, we often find educational offers in the context of neighborhood management, in cooperation with social work or political education in rural areas. The people to whom "the educational offers are brought" are described differently in this context, but it is not uncommon for them to be "people affected by poverty" - Pierre Bourdieu would say people with little social capital. These people should be activated and empowered. The aim is to win them back for democracy. We think this is a classist idea. Who is being labeled as in need of political education and why?

The recent events in Sylt show that it is not only people affected by poverty who are turning away from democracy. Why don't we actually offer outreach political education programs at the Poyclub on Sylt or at hedge fund managers' after-work parties? When it comes to political and democratic education, the top 10,000 seem to us to be quite in need of education at times. Let's try outreach political education among millionaires in Radebeul before we move our offerings back to Prohlis.