Call for Papers: Financial Literacy in Social Science Education
Submission deadline: October 1, 2026
These contributions analyse finance as an object of financial education that is socially constructed, historically developed, institutionally embedded, and politically contested. At the same time, they conceptualise financial education as a learning process that enables individuals to recognise, reflect on, and responsibly shape financial practices, structures, and interests at the intersection of personal life situations and broader social contexts.
The articles included in this special issue locate financial education within an interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary setting at the interface of economics, political science, sociology, and related disciplines. Thematically, they address topics such as financial education in the context of social inequality, diverse life situations, critical empathy and thinking, political and institutional frameworks, citizenship education and sustainable development. Ultimately, the special issue seeks to contribute to a socially contextualised, critically reflective, and design-oriented approach to financial education, offering valuable impulses for research, teacher education, and school practice within the field of social science education.
Among other questions and topics, the following could be relevant:
- How can financial education be theoretically justified as a concept of social science education?
- How can interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approaches at the intersection of economics, political science, sociology, and related fields contribute to the advancement of financial education?
- What normative assumptions about responsibility, rationality, and market participation shape dominant financial literacy discourses, and how should these be critically reflected upon?
- What implications does the ongoing financialisation of the economy and society have for curricula and teaching?
- How can structural conditions, particularly financialisation and social inequality, be systematically integrated into financial education rather than focusing primarily on individual behaviour?
- What role does financial education play in the context of sustainable development?
- What are the consequences of social science–based financial education for teacher education, professionalisation, curriculum development, and education policy?
- How can financial education integrate emotive and compassionate aspects of teaching and learning?
- How can financial education promote learning processes that enable people to critically analyse financial practices, institutions, and interests, and help them to shape these responsibly?
Editors for the special issue are Anja Bonfig (University of Education PH Schwäbisch Gmünd, Germany), Mattias Björklund (Stockholm University, Sweden), Harald Hantke (Leuphana University Lüneburg, Germany) and David Lefrançois (Université du Québec en Outaouais, Canada).
For further information and questions regarding this special issue, please contact anja.bonfig@ph-gmuend.de
