ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that the social and economic inequalities that have fed the growing popular disconnect with mainstream politics manifested by Brexit and the election of far-right leaders across the world demand more from education. It suggests that a wider adoption of the radical, participative, empowering and action-oriented development education approach is needed to provide the kind of critical thinking required in today’s world of ‘alternative facts’. Greater support of coalface, community-based development education particularly in politically disconnected and economically marginalised areas could help to restore hope, confidence and agency to communities that have been seduced by a resurgent political right. Development education’s critical understanding and awareness raising could help empower these communities to resist the rising tide of populist nationalism. They can also map the connection between the post–2008 financial crisis created by a deregulated Atlantic economy and the disastrous consequences of austerity that include the rise of the populist right.
