ABSTRACT What goes on within educational institutions can be pivotal for whether and how democracy and political tolerance are nurtured, and peaceful relations between groups encouraged. Several studies oriented to the content of curricula have shown that education in India must be reformed if it is to promote inter-ethnic peace, political tolerance and democracy. The focus of this study, however, is more on the praxis of education – how it is conducted, in what kind of institutional setting it takes place, and what the implications are for inter-ethnic peace. This unique case study of Jammu and Kashmir in India provides unexpected insights into how democratic norms can be promoted in disadvantageous contexts, where open violent conflict prevails and politically intolerant attitudes might normally be expected to result. The findings of this study have important implications for educational reform. First, the authoritarian approach to teaching currently employed in India’s system of primary education needs to be replaced by more modern methods, and corporal punishment must be abolished. Second, the praxis found in at least some of the country’s institutions of higher learning should be encouraged, due to the role it plays in bridging ethno-religious divides and breaking path-dependent trajectories towards political intolerance.

中文翻译：

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印度的民主美德和教育机构——冲突缠身的查谟和克什米尔的黑天鹅

摘要 教育机构内部发生的事情对于是否以及如何培养民主和政治宽容以及鼓励群体之间的和平关系至关重要。几项针对课程内容的研究表明，如果要促进种族间和平、政治宽容和民主，印度的教育必须改革。然而，这项研究的重点更多地放在教育实践上——它是如何进行的，它发生在什么样的制度环境中，以及对种族间和平的影响。这个对印度查谟和克什米尔的独特案例研究为如何在不利的环境中促进民主规范提供了意想不到的见解，在这些环境中，公开的暴力冲突盛行，通常会导致政治上的不容忍态度。本研究的结果对教育改革具有重要意义。首先，印度小学教育体系目前采用的专制教学方法需要被更现代的方法所取代，必须废除体罚。其次，应该鼓励至少在该国一些高等教育机构中发现的实践，因为它在弥合民族宗教分歧和打破依赖路径的政治不容忍轨迹方面发挥着作用。