Mapping civic debate following September 11, 2001: Civic courage, social cartography and curriculum theorizing

The events of September 11th and their aftermath produced a reaction in America based on shock; loss, grief and anxiety. By way of response, the general 'tone' of the nation was expressed in public displays of jingoistic nationalism and the invocation of a 'God Bless America' rhetorical turn. The national mood appeared to mute or exclude discussion, debate or dissent from this 'tone' as media representations of public sentiment echoed the rhetoric of George W. Bush's 'one true America' perspective. The result was a silencing of difference of opinion about these events, sometimes self-imposed, in the midst of tremendous 'noise levels' about patriotism and God's blessings. This study attends to that 'silence' by exploring discourses that displayed civic courage by speaking out to critique the changes happening in the nation. The purpose of doing so is to find the curriculum that lies hidden within, or buried beneath, that silence, conceiving of the curriculum in terms of what a parenting culture in a democratic society might wish to offer its young to sustain democracy in a time of national crisis. Three venues were selected for discursive analysis and mapping: a special 9/11 edition Qualitative Inquiry journal, The New York Times, and tompaine.com. The cultural tensions and upheaval within which these venues operate are discussed and their texts are mapped, using social cartography as a methodology. This mapping shows variations in foundations for citizenship and in modes of civic participation. The curriculum that emerges is linked to senses of place and belonging in the nation/world, senses of the nation itself, and convictions about how we engage as citizens. I work from Kemmis' (1986) notion of ideology-critique as a means of understanding curriculum to synthesize illuminative and emancipatory approaches to critical pedagogy using an interpretive methodology (social cartography) to approach a critical pedagogy about the post-September 11 th world. I also work to reframe the language of citizenship to integrate prior notions with a 'cultural citizenship' approach (Stevenson, 2001).