From Hope Punk to Hopeful: Reclaiming Education as a Basic Good in the Face of Neoliberal Instrumentalisation

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Saturday 7:45 am - Gold 2
  In Roundtable Session: Educational Ethics

Abstract

This paper examines the transition from "hope punk", a rebellious and defiant form of hope that emerges within the cracks of neoliberal educational systems, to a more foundational and restorative "hopeful" approach grounded in Finnis’ theory of basic goods. It critiques the neoliberal instrumentalisation of higher education, where knowledge and relationships are commodified and reduced to measurable outputs, undermining the intrinsic mission of fostering human flourishing. Drawing on contemporary educational theory and natural law, the paper argues for reclaiming education as an intrinsic good, not merely a means to economic ends. By integrating transformative repair, utopian imagination, and institutional phronesis, it envisions educational institutions that nurture eudaemonia, restoring education as a fundamental site of human dignity and collective possibility.

Author

• Sean Chen Liu, National Institute of Education - Nanyang Technological University