Conference Program

In the contemporary context marked by the proliferation of armed conflicts, humanitarian crises, and the increasing fragility of democratic systems, education is called upon to confront the question of how social imaginaries are formed - those frameworks through which societies interpret violence, conflict, and alterity. From this perspective, peacebuilding does not concern only political and institutional processes, but also the symbolic and cultural dimensions through which individuals learn to interpret and make sense of social reality (Galtung, 1969; Reardon, 1988). Within this theoretical framework, the present contribution reflects on the role of narrative in early childhood as a pedagogical device capable of shaping the social imaginary and the symbolic horizons through which individuals interpret the world. Narratives addressed to children - such as fairy tales, stories, images, and symbolic practices - should not be understood merely as forms of entertainment. Rather, they participate in the construction of systems of meaning and interpretive models that contribute to the development of the cognitive and symbolic dispositions through which individuals learn to read and understand social reality (Bourdieu, 2023; Bourdieu & Passeron, 1970). The analysis draws on sociological reflections on the imaginary, understood as a constellation of symbolic representations, myths, and narratives through which human communities construct and transmit shared worldviews (Durand, 1972). From this perspective, children’s narratives may be interpreted as privileged sites for the production and transmission of the social imaginary, shaping the ways in which individuals perceive themselves, others, and the social contexts in which they are embedded. The contribution is further grounded in the Lacanian triad of the Real, the Symbolic, and the Imaginary, which offers a conceptual framework for interpreting processes of subject formation as the result of a dynamic interplay between images, language, and those dimensions of experience that resist full symbolization (Lacan, 1974). Within this framework, the imaginary emerges as a space of symbolic elaboration in which children construct representations of reality through images and stories. These processes are intertwined with the cognitive and affective dynamics described by developmental psychology, where symbolic play and narrative practices play a central role in organizing experience and in the construction of meaning (Piaget, 1978; Vygotsky, 2014; Winnicott, 1971). Engaging with the international literature on peace education (Galtung, 1969; Reardon, 1988; Harris & Morrison, 2013; Bajaj, 2008; Salomon & Cairns, 2009), the paper argues that childhood narratives can be interpreted as pedagogical devices capable of influencing the formation of collective imaginaries, fostering ethical awareness and reflective competences oriented toward democratic coexistence. In this sense, narrative education can be understood as a form of “symbolic disarmament”, capable of counteracting forms of symbolic violence and supporting peacebuilding processes from the earliest stages of human development. In light of these considerations, the paper proposes to reconsider children’s narrative practices not merely as educational or cultural activities, but as pedagogical dispositifs that act upon the deeper structures of the social imaginary, contributing to the formation of subjects capable of dialogue, mutual recognition, and global responsibility.