Contested Social Imaginaries: Uncovering the Economic and Educational Roots of Inequality

• In Event: 53.036 - Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Education Inequalities: Exploring Alternatives to the "Neoliberalism" Critique

Abstract

Objectives
We live in local, national, and global societies that are educationally, economically and socially unequal (Fraser, 2013). In this paper, we argue that responses to inequality need to be examined based on whether they reflect the dominant or subaltern social imaginaries (Rizvi & Lingard, 2010) and whether they reflect neoliberal, social democratic or other economic philosophies. We agree with John Maynard Keynes (1936) that, “the ideas of economists and political philosophers…are more powerful than is commonly understood. Indeed, the world is ruled by little else. Practical men (sic), who believe themselves to be quite exempt from any intellectual influences, are usually the slaves of some defunct economist” (p. 383). In this paper we show how the dominant and other social imaginaries about education reflect the philosophy of either social democratic economist such as Keynes, emerging, or neoliberal economists like Hayek (1944/2007; 1960) and Friedman (1962; 1980).

Inflections of neoliberal or social democratic economic theory are common-place in educational dialog. In meeting with teachers, administrators and education policy makers, they refer, often unknowingly, to the tenets of either neoliberal or social democratic economic theory. For example, in a meeting with a mayor of a city in the northeast United States, the mayor stated that she favoured creating more charter (publicly funded, privately administered) schools because middle-class people can “vote with their feet” to choose the best school for their children while families living in poverty cannot. She stated “we all know what the problems are,” (although, there is widespread disagreement) and that “everyone deserves choice.” These sentiments echo the views of Friedman and the neoliberal social imaginary, whilst simultaneously wrestling with notions of equity and social democracy.

Perspective or theoretical framework
This research will examine how educational policy is developed and implemented in a state in the northeast US using the concepts of “policy mobility,” “social imaginaries,” (Rizvi & Lingard, 2010) and economic/social theory. We look specifically at ways in which policies regarding educational, economic, and social inequality are contested and how particular discourses, practices, and social structures disrupt or support the interrelationship between economic theory and educational practices.

Methods and data sources
Data comes from two sources: (1) media reports and other documents that describe the education views of educators and policy makers and (2) interviews of the Chancellor and Commissioner of Education, the Board of Regents, politicians, local school board members, K-12 administrators and teachers.

Results and scholarly significance
Our research revealed the ways in which neoliberal economic tenets were both reflected and contested in education policy. Some policy makers endorsed a more social democratic imaginary and others sought to develop a new post-welfare state description of education and society. Consequently, why educational inequality exists and how to respond is contested and inchoate. The research suggests that to lessen inequality we should explore the roots of people’s educational philosophies by comparing them with the dominant and subaltern economic theories.

Author

• David W. Hursh, University of Rochester