In his essay "Individuality, Equality, and Creative Democracy--the Task Before Us," Jim Garrison (2012, in this issue) restates Dewey's call "to educate individuals capable of criticizing and recreating society--not simply reproducing the status quo." He writes that under the new structural feudalism, "schools assume the…

This brief article posits that the drive to privatize public services in the US (United States) coupled with growing economic inequality are now so extreme that they threaten a cornerstone of American liberal democracy--quality public education. The argument rests on the assumption that there is such a concept as "the public good". This idea of…

"Education and the Crisis of Public Values" examines American society's shift away from democratic public values, the ensuing move toward a market-driven mode of education, and the last decade's growing social disinvestment in youth. The book discusses the number of ways that the ideal of public education as a democratic public sphere has been…

This article ethnographically examines the ways in which No Child Left Behind (NCLB) links local practices to the centralized processing of data through its narrowing of procedures and measurements aimed at accountability. Framed by actor-network theory, it draws upon data consistently collected between June 2005 and October 2008, and then…

As austerity measures intensify around the world, the axe has come down particularly hard on post-secondary education (PSE). So-called education "reform" has shown itself to be a lightning rod for confrontation. In order to deal with unprecedented government budget shortfalls, caused, it must be recalled, by the lead agents of the…

In this article, the authors argue that educational technology is chiefly and increasingly being used as a tool for the privatization of education and the commodification of people by way of top down evaluative structures put in place by governments in collusion with neoliberal interests. This analysis began as a study that sought to illuminate…

In this timely interdisciplinary volume, William Watkins has brought together leading scholars and activists to address some of the most urgent issues facing public education. What is underneath and behind the language of choice, efficiency, and improvement in current neoliberal discourse? How will urban and poor populations be affected? Will…

This article focuses on the role of the state in the context of an increasing market orientation in Swedish education policy. It asks if and how a market orientation and privatisation can be reconciled with attempts to reestablish central output control. The controlling function of the state is emphasised in the form of efforts to inspect both…

Globalization has made a big impact on all spheres of today's society. One of its most obvious impacts is the effect it has on education. It greatly influenced the economics and funding of public education, as well as the development of educational policies. International organizations set the benchmark for educational quality, evaluation and…

My purpose is to examine and evaluate the implementation of market ideology and practices in education through the prism of both modern democratic theory and the discourse of rights. I examine the essence and defining characteristics of public schooling in modern democratic theory, explore the democratic purposes of education, and the unique…

This article shows how universities, like education and social services in general, are increasingly pressured to adopt neoliberal principles that encourage privatization, entrepreneurship, standardization, assessment, and accountability. The authors examine recent efforts in the United States to develop measurement and accountability systems that…

In cities across the nation, communities of color find themselves resisting state disinvestment and the politics of dispossession. Students at the Center--a writing initiative based in several New Orleans high schools--takes on this struggle through a close examination of race and schools. The book builds on the powerful stories of marginalized…

Background/Context: Market models of school reform are having a major impact on school districts across the country. While scholars have examined many aspects of this process, we know far less about the general effects of marketization on public participation in education and local education politics. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of…

As of late, it would seem that the commonly sought after concept of collaboration has lost its appeal and, arising in its aftermath, is a reconfigured front of conflict between the public and private spheres of American life. In this current attack on the public, the stage is ripe for disobedience in all its various forms and functions to stand up…

The author, a former headteacher and now a county councillor, argues that the structural changes to the education system put in place in the first weeks of the new government in the summer of 2010 will exacerbate the gap between the highest and lowest achieving schools, will destabilise the state-funded education system, will expose it to…