Marxism Against Postmodernism in Educational Theory

442 Pages·2003·2.37 MB·English

by  Dave Hill

Praise for Marxism Against
Postmodernism in Educational
Theory
“The importance of a work that grounds critical educational theory in its Marxist
foundations and that constitutes an uncompromising socialist project dedicated
to educating toward a just society, cannot be understated. This book will
provocatively engage all scholars who consider the multiple roles of schooling in
society.”
—Jill Pinkey Pastrana, California State University, Long Beach

“For those of us who still dare to envision a world liberated from the imperatives
of capital and the brutalities of market-discipline, the individual and collective
efforts of Glenn Rikowski, Mike Cole, Dave Hill, and Peter McLaren help us all
sustain our cautious optimism for the future.”
—David Gabbard, East Carolina University

“I applaud the book’s timeliness and its authors’ courage.”
—Zeus Leonardo, California State University, Long Beach

“There is undoubtedly a need for a contemporary rigorous Marxist-inspired
critique of postmodernism and poststructuralism in educational settings and this
book is certainly that.”
—British Journal of Educational Studies
“The essential message is that Marxism still matters, and this collection
highlights the importance of this perspective in educational theory.”
—Educational Research

“The scholarship is impressive.... It is a book which will certainly be of interest
to any educators who want to build a society where socialism can flourish.”
—Journal of In-Service Education

“Quite simply, this is a brilliant book.”
—Paula Allman, University of Nottingham

“This book is an aid to thought, not just interpretation. Its central theme (that
education is of necessity a political activity) is one that needs debate outside the
walls of academia.”
—Times Educational Supplement

LEXINGTON BOOKS

Published in the United States of America
by Lexington Books
A Member of the Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group
4720 Boston Way, Lanham, Maryland 20706

PO Box 317
Oxford
OX2 9RU, UK

Copyright @ 2002 by Dave Hill, Peter McLaren, Mike Cole, and Glenn
Rikowski
Cover artwork by Roger Hill

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission
of the publisher.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Marxism against postmodernism in educational theory / edited by Dave Hill ...
[et al.].
p. cm.
Rev. ed. of: Postmodernism in educational theory. 1999.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
9780739157558
1. Communism and education. 2. Socialism and education. 3. Postmodernism
and education. I. Hill, Dave, 1945—II. Postmodernism in educational theory.

HX526 .M35 2002
370’.1—dc21
2001050669

Printed in the United States of America

The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of
American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper
for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48—1992.
Table of Contents
Praise for Marxism Against Postmodernism in Educational Theory
Title Page
Copyright Page
Preface
Part I - Introduction
Chapter 1 - Postmodernism in Educational Theory
Chapter 2 - Prelude: Marxist Educational Theory after Postmodernism
Part II - Postmodern Excess
Chapter 3 - Breaking Signifying Chains: A Marxist Position on
Postmodernism
Chapter 4 - Structuring the Postmodern in Education Policy
Chapter 5 - ‘Resistance Postmodernism’ —Progressive Politics or
Rhetorical Left Posturing?
Part III - Human Resistance against Postmodernism
Chapter 6 - Education, Capital and the Transhuman
Chapter 7 - Youth, Training and the Politics of ‘Cool’
Chapter 8 - Marxism, Class Analysis and Postmodernism
Chapter 9 - Racism, Postmodernism and the Flight from Class
Chapter 10 - Women, Work and the Family: Or Why Postmodernism
Cannot Explain the Links
Part IV - Pedagogy, Reprise and Conclusion
Chapter 11 - Recentering Class: Wither Postmodernism? Toward a
Contraband Pedagogy
Chapter 12 - Postmodernism Adieu: Toward a Politics of Human
Resistance
Bibliography
Index
About the Contributors
Preface
This book is an expanded and partially updated version of our earlier
Postmodernism in Educational Theory:Education and the Politics of Human
Resistance.1 For this Lexington Books edition there are two completely new
chapters—chapter 2, Glenn Rikowski’s “Prelude: Marxist Educational Theory
after Postmodernism,” and chapter 3, Peter McLaren and Ramin
Farahmandpur’s “Breaking Signifying Chains: A Marxist Position on
Postmodernism.” A number of other chapters have been substantially revised.
These are Glenn Rikowski and Peter McLaren’s chapter 1, “Introduction:
Postmodernism in Educational Theory,” Mike Cole and Dave Hill’s chapter 5,
“‘Resistance Postmodernism’—Progressive Politics or Rhetorical Left
Posturing?” and chapter 8, “Marxism, Class Analysis and Postmodernism” by
Dave Hill, Mike Sanders and Ted Hankin.
We want to thank, in particular, Jason Hallman at Lexington Books for his
interest, encouragement and advice regarding the realization of this new and
expanded edition, which allows us to gain wider access to a United States and
international readership. Jason has been unfailingly courteous, encouraging and
enthusiastic throughout the revision and production process.
We also thank Robert Albury and Janet Holland at Tufnell Press for
encouraging us, in 1998, to write the original first edition. They provided
tremendous support, technical expertise and understanding in our original
enterprise.
And for both editions, we thank Christie Fox of Running Heads Editorials for
her insightful, expert and humorous editorial advice and work.
Things have moved very quickly since that Tufnell Press edition of
Postmodernism in Educational Theory appeared in late 1999, both in terms of
political events and in terms of the intellectual analysis and portrayal of those
events, as well as the deepening capitalization and commodification of
humanity. The pace of privatization and marketization in education has
quickened, spurred on by drive of the World Trade Organization (WTO) to open