This volume of radical studies in the sociology and politics of education specifically addresses educational policies and the crisis of the welfare state--one of the central political facts of our time--and opens up new areas in the critical social analysis of education. Shapiro explores the interconnection between educational policy and the structure of economic, political, and cultural life in the United States, arguing that in spite of its practical and ideological autonomy, the educational region is not immune to the kinds of disruption and dislocation found elsewhere in society....

The authors' goal is to explore how an alternative, politically viable public discourse on education can be constructed. They examine the kinds of conditions, concerns, and subjectivities that must be attended to in order to develop an effective and resonant new language that can re-focus the purposes of education in this society. The authors' agree that educational discourse must be transformed into a visible, morally and politically vital, public commentary and debate - one that can begin to address the social, cultural, and spiritual crises that now confront humanity.

The authors' goal is to explore how an alternative, politically viable public discourse on education can be constructed. They examine the kinds of conditions, concerns, and subjectivities that must be attended to in order to develop an effective and resonant new language that can re-focus the purposes of education in this society. The authors' agree that educational discourse must be transformed into a visible, morally and politically vital, public commentary and debate - one that can begin to address the social, cultural, and spiritual crises that now confront humanity.

This volume of radical studies in the sociology and politics of education specifically addresses educational policies and the crisis of the welfare state--one of the central political facts of our time--and opens up new areas in the critical social analysis of education. Shapiro explores the interconnection between educational policy and the structure of economic, political, and cultural life in the United States, arguing that in spite of its practical and ideological autonomy, the educational region is not immune to the kinds of disruption and dislocation found elsewhere in society....