Surviving Capitalism (Not) : Against Capitalist Education is a striking call for education to be freed of the straightjacket of the capitalist market, finds Phil Armstrong

We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Sunday, May 15, 2016

Against Capitalist Education is a striking call for education to be freed of the straightjacket of the capitalist market, finds Phil Armstrong

Click here to access a book review by Phil Armstrong of a book entitled Against Capitalist Education posted on CounterFire (Britain).

It is written in an unusual and very engaging way; in the form of a dialogue between two passionate and angry educators, George and John, who teach at a university. The style is highly engaging and the narrative unfolds as their conversation develops and progresses in front of an audience of students in a series of acts and scenes characteristic of a play. The questions asked by the characters mirror those likely to be asked by the reader which both aids her ability to absorb the information in the text and enhances enjoyment of the book.

I've got news for Armstrong. Capitalist ruling classes have always controlled education like they have all other institutions, but probably more now than ever before.