Manufacturing Consent for Privatization in Public Education: The Rise of a Social Finance Network in Canada

• In Event: Hilton Roundtable Session 13
  In Roundtable Session: Privatization in Education in Comparative Context

Abstract

Multiple forms of privatization are emerging in the Canadian public sector, including public–private partnerships. This article focuses on one approach to public–private partnerships called “social finance,” and examines a network of public, private, and not-for-profit organizations that promotes social finance as a means of funding public services, including education. The authors employ social network analysis to identify key members of this network, and critical discourse analysis to examine the discourse the network produces. Findings reveal a number of discursive and extra-discursive practices the network uses that legitimize social finance approaches to funding public services. These practices manufacture consent for increased privatization in the public sphere, and this has important implications for public education.

Authors

• Wendy L. Poole, The University of British Columbia

• Vicheth Sen, The University of British Columbia

• Gerald Fallon, The University of British Columbia