Reimagining Peace Education in a Fragmented World: Democratic Participation, Civic Agency, Democratic Futures and Conflict Prevention

About this Research Topic

Background

In an era of democratic backsliding, polarisation, and extremism, peace education has regained relevance as a tool for fostering civic agency, healing divisions, and strengthening democratic resilience. This special issue presents an integrated vision of peace education that connects three often-separate fields—conflict prevention, democratic engagement, and transformative pedagogy—to address pressing global challenges. By exploring youth activism, digital peacebuilding, decolonial approaches, and the political economy of peace programs, the framework offers both critical insights and practical solutions, particularly for post-conflict and transitional societies.

The crisis of democracy today demands more than institutional reforms—it requires rethinking how education cultivates critical consciousness and collective healing. Traditional peace education, often constrained by liberal or state-centric models, must evolve to confront structural violence, center marginalized voices, and resist co-optation by authoritarian or corporate interests. Participatory and decolonial methods are essential to empower communities while fostering inclusive civic cultures. Lessons from post-conflict regions and fragile democracies reveal both the potential and limitations of current approaches.

Youth and digital spaces play a crucial role in reshaping peacebuilding. Young people, disproportionately affected by conflict and democratic erosion, are pioneering innovative activism—from digital storytelling to online counter-radicalisation. However, these efforts operate in contested terrain: while social media amplifies marginalized voices, it also spreads disinformation. Peace education must equip youth with digital literacy and ethical engagement skills while avoiding top-down control.

An intersectional lens is equally vital, exposing how race, gender, class, and disability intersect in conflicts and peace processes. Programmes ignoring systemic injustice risk reinforcing inequalities. For example, women-led peace initiatives often achieve local reconciliation but remain excluded from formal politics. Similarly, Indigenous knowledge offers alternatives to Western-centric models but is frequently sidelined in curricula. Decolonising peace education means incorporating diverse epistemologies and challenging the power structures that suppress them.

The link between justice and education further complicates these efforts. Restorative justice mechanisms, like truth commissions, show how addressing historical grievances can build shared futures. Yet without tackling economic and land inequalities, such processes risk becoming symbolic. Peace education must connect reconciliation with material justice, aligning pedagogy with broader struggles for equity.

However, peace education does not operate in isolation. Funding, policies, and geopolitical interests shape its implementation. The rise of NGO-led or privatised programmes raises concerns about sustainability and accountability. When donors prioritise short-term outcomes, programmes may favour harmony over justice. Similarly, the securitisation of peace education—where it serves counterterrorism agendas—can distort its purpose, silencing dissent in the name of stability.

Measuring impact remains challenging, as democratic attitudes develop over decades. Traditional metrics, like workshop attendance, fail to capture shifts in power dynamics. New methods—such as participatory action research—are needed to assess long-term contributions to peace and democracy.

Underpinning all these dimensions is the need for holistic healing. Trauma, whether from war or structural violence, fuels cycles of retaliation. Integrative approaches combining psychosocial support with political education can help communities heal while rebuilding agency. Environmental crises further complicate this, requiring peace education that links social healing with ecological justice.

Ultimately, this issue calls for a peace education that is both politically engaged and pedagogically innovative. Bridging theory and practice, centring marginalised knowledge, and confronting power imbalances can become a cornerstone of democratic renewal. In a time of intersecting crises, its role is not just to reduce violence but to envision more just futures. Scholars, practitioners, and activists must collaborate to transform education from a tool of compliance into a movement for liberation.

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Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Conceptual Analysis
• Data Report
• Editorial
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Policy and Practice Reviews
• Policy Brief
• Registered Report
• Review
• Study Protocol
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: peace education, democratic resilience, youth activism, decolonial pedagogy, digital peacebuilding, restorative justice

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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