Mundification: Arguments for a New Idealism

Today, there is a tendency within the field of environmental education to argue that the current global metacrisis is intrinsically linked to idealist traditions in philosophy and culture. The underlying intuition appears to be that idealism ultimately relies on a Cartesian distinction between mind and body: that it privileges the mind while neglecting the body, thereby enabling a view of materiality – or “nature” – as something to be used or exploited. A similar assumption can be identified in the call for papers for this issue, where modern idealism is linked to neoliberal politics and economics. In contrast, the aim of our paper is not to reject idealism entirely but to argue that the real issue lies in particular ideas and worldviews associated with specific understandings of reality. To open up space for alternative ideas and imaginaries, we propose that educational theory and practice must engage with a process we term mundification: the initiation of individuals – though education and other cultural practices – into what it means for there to be something at all, that is; a world.