test Discipline and Subjectivity in Religious Education|Greek Journal of Religious Education (GjRE)

Discipline and Subjectivity in Religious Education

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Published: Nov 27, 2025
DOI: https://doi.org/10.12681/gjre.40989
Keywords:
Religious Education disciplinary power subjectivity education and power
Dionysios Asimiadis
Aristotle Univeristy of Thessaloniki
https://orcid.org/0009-0007-8456-9235
Abstract

The paper examines the relationship between disciplinary power and subject formation in Religious Education through the theoretical insights of Michel Foucault. The general objective is to discuss how curriculum and pedagogy in Religious Education are engaged in the process of constructing normalized religious subjects through discipline, surveillance, and internalization. The reason behind such a focus is the need to critically analyze the unseen power relations that constitute pedagogical space and student identity. The paper analyzes relevant curricular texts and pedagogic practices and how they illustrate the functioning of knowledge-power relations within classroom space. Some of the findings point towards Religious Education, albeit unintentional, as a reproducing and normalizing ideological space. The review concludes by suggesting ways of change and resistance in the form of more participatory and reflexive pedagogical paradigms. The current paper adds to the literature on educational subjectivation with critical significance to teachers, researchers, and curriculum planners who are interested in democratic and emancipatory religious education.

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Author Biography
Dionysios Asimiadis, Aristotle Univeristy of Thessaloniki

Dionysis Asimiadis is a PhD candidate in Political Science. He was born in 1996 in Thessaloniki, Greece. He has worked extensively as a radio and television producer. He holds a degree in Social Administration and Political Science from the Democritus University of Thrace and completed his postgraduate studies at the Faculty of Law of the same institution, in collaboration with the Jean Monnet Foundation. In 2023, he began working on his doctoral dissertation at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. He has been awarded the Second National Prize for Essay Writing by the Eleftherios Venizelos Foundation, as well as the Second Prize for Poetry by the Union of Writers of Northern Greece.

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