De-bordering solidarities: using eco-craftivism as an eco-social pedagogy in primary education

Critical social pedagogy has developed in a manner that is both complex and situationally embedded, but manifesting common threads of inclusion, participation and care in pursuit of social justice and well-being. Solidarity sits at the heart of the critical social pedagogical project, though not without contestation around the nature of its deployment. Eco-social pedagogy broadens the concerns of critical social pedagogy, foregrounding the importance of ecological solidarities, in conjunction with intra-human solidarities, in recognition of the interdependency of social and ecological needs. This article argues that eco-social pedagogy would benefit from an even fuller ‘de-bordering’ of solidarity, incorporating a third solidarity – a solidarity with things. Societal transformation for a just sustainability can be supported by an eco-social pedagogy that builds learning opportunities at the intersection of these three solidarities. Drawing on data from a project with 120 UK pupils, aged eight to nine, we discuss the role that eco-craftivism may serve as an eco-social pedagogy, functioning as a catalyst for developing holistic, de-bordered solidaristic understandings, motivations and actions in the face of our current ecological and social justice crisis. We demonstrate how a solidarity with things can build a more holistic and collective narrative, serving as a gateway towards ecological and intra-human solidarities.