‘We cannot afford outsiderness’

This article addresses social inclusion/exclusion – specifically the kind of exclusion we describe as outsiderness – in relation to sustainable development and arts education. Our idea is to address and discuss this on an individual/micro level and as a topic of social sustainability. Inspired by Irwin and Springgay’s a/r/tography, Frank’s dialogical narrative analysis, and different walk-along methods, we also explore alternative formats of the scientific article. In this text, we will thus present what became five threads of inquiry into arts education’s potential contribution to social sustainability. These threads describe our path through this field and relate to 1) the position of the arts in the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal (SDGs), 2) social inclusion in the SDGs, 3) research on the arts and health, 4) social inclusion in the arts, and 5) research on outsiderness. Throughout the article, we also exemplify our walk-along discussions through narratives, revealing more of the motivations behind this text. We end the article with a discussion proposing relational arts education to help avoid outsiderness and to promote inclusion, care, social sustainability, and diverging voices or what we describe as counter-voices, in arts education. Cover image: photo collage by Torill Vist