Mike Cole

Might It Be in the Practice that It Fails to Succeed? A Marxist Critique of Claims for Postmodernism and Poststructuralism as Forces for Social Change and Social Justice

In this paper I begin by taking a brief glimpse at the current state of global capitalism. I then look at attempts in Britain and the US to argue the case, within educational theory, that postmodernism and poststructuralism can be forces for social change and social justice. Concentrating on some of the work of Elizabeth Atkinson, Patti Lather and Judith Baxter, I argue that such claims are illusory. I make the case that Marxism remains the only viable option in the pursuit of social change and social justice.

Between Postmodernism and Nowhere: The Predicament of the Postmodernist

This paper counters Blakes (1996) claim that educational neo-Marxism ‘died’ in the 1970s through demonstrating that there has been a substantial output of neo-Marxist educational writings since 1980. Blake also promotes postmodernism as a resource for rejuvenating educational theory. The paper demonstrates that postmodernism is inadequate as a basis for rethinking educational theory and for forging a radical educational politics.

Games of Despair and Rhetorics of Resistance: postmodernism, education and reaction

In the first part of the paper, we begin by attempting to establish the parameters of the eclectic concept of postmodernism. We then evaluate what have been described as two different strands of postmodernism; postmodernism of reaction’ and postmodernism of resistance’ and conclude that, while there are clear differences in intention and in emphasis, the ‘two postmodernisms’ have too much in common to be thought of as separate discourses. Next, we try to identify some key problems with postmodernism per se. Our central argument is that, contra the postmodern rejection of the metanarrative, a Marxist analysis still has most purchase in explaining economic, political, social and cultural changes and current developments in capitalist societies. We argue that postmodernist analyses in general, in their marginalisation and/or neglect of the determining effects of the relations of production, are essentially reactionary. While noting a range of problems with postmodernism, we focus on its methodology and on it...

‘Brutal and stinking’ and ‘difficult to handle’: the historical and contemporary manifestations of racialisation, institutional racism, and schooling in Britain

In this paper, I begin by challenging the British Home Secretarys (David Blunkett) denial of the existence of institutional racism in Britain. While recognising the significance of Macphersons acknowledgement in the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry that institutional racism is, in fact, widespread, I offer a wider definition than that offered by Macpherson. I argue that institutional racism has been a reality in British society from the origins of the Welfare State up to the present day. Utilising the Marxist concept of ‘racialisation’, which critiques an ideological process that categorises people into distinct ‘races’, I suggest that racialisation best explains the economic and political factors, which underlay institutional racism in schooling in Britain, both historically and at the beginning of the twenty‐first century. I conclude by stressing the need to pressurise the British Government to reject Blunketts denial of institutional racism and, at the very minimum, urgently to implement Macphersons recomm...In this paper, I begin by challenging the British Home Secretarys (David Blunkett) denial of the existence of institutional racism in Britain. While recognising the significance of Macphersons acknowledgement in the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry that institutional racism is, in fact, widespread, I offer a wider definition than that offered by Macpherson. I argue that institutional racism has been a reality in British society from the origins of the Welfare State up to the present day. Utilising the Marxist concept of ‘racialisation’, which critiques an ideological process that categorises people into distinct ‘races’, I suggest that racialisation best explains the economic and political factors, which underlay institutional racism in schooling in Britain, both historically and at the beginning of the twenty‐first century. I conclude by stressing the need to pressurise the British Government to reject Blunketts denial of institutional racism and, at the very minimum, urgently to implement Macphersons recommendations with respect to education.

‘Do you ride on elephants’ and ‘never tell them you're German’: the experiences of British Asian and black, and overseas student teachers in South‐east England

In this article we report on part of a small-scale study into the experiences of 28 British-born Asian and black, and overseas student teachers, who were following both Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) and school-based routes to qualified teacher status (QTS), in Sussex and Kent. The results indicate worrying degrees of racism, xenophobia and general ignorance in schools in South-east England, a finding underscored by some recent interviews undertaken by a local council in the same region. The authors conclude that, in order to challenge this racism, xenophobia and ignorance, there is an urgent need to be proactive in undermining racism. This should include the full implementation of the Race Relations (Amendment) Act in all educational institutions and the endorsement of the Stephen Lawrence Enquiry (Macpherson) Reports recommendation for the amendment of the National Curriculum to provide an education which deals with racism awareness.

Racism, Reconstructed Multiculturalism and Antiracist Education

Abstract> To the long‐standing debate over the relative merits of multicultural and antiracist education, Short and Carrington have added a new dimension. It is their contention that in order to challenge racism, educators should promote a reconstructed form of multiculturalism in addition to conventional antiracism. Their argument is that a new form of racism has emerged in which culture assumes a pivotal role and, accordingly, that a revised form of education is required to deal with it. While accepting the crucial role that culture plays in racism in contemporary societies, I question in this paper Short & Carringtons virtually exclusive concern with cultural racism, which is based on a relatively uncritical acceptance of Martin Barkers concept of the ‘new racism’. Instead, I offer a reformulation of the concept of racism which incorporates both biological and cultural elements, but which also includes seemingly positively evaluated characteristics in addition to the more obvious negative ones. This ...

‘Rule Britannia’ and the New American Empire: A Marxist Analysis of the Teaching of Imperialism, Actual and Potential, in the British School Curriculum

The author begins by arguing that in order to understand imperialism it is necessary to have a conceptual awareness of the concepts of racism and racialisation. He then considers how the British Empire impacted on schools during the imperial era. He goes on to examine the nature of the New Imperialism. Calls are currently being made by notable ‘establishment figures’ for the renewed teaching in schools of the history of Britains imperial past. He concludes that Marxists should endorse these calls and should argue for the teaching of imperialism to be extended to include an analysis of the New Imperialism.

Marxist state theory and state autonomy theory: the case of ‘race’ education in initial teacher education

Abstract In recent times, there have been a number of critiques of Marxist and neo‐Marxist analyses of the state and education policy. These have drawn on postmodernist, ‘quasi‐postmodernist’ and state autonomy perspectives. While the postmodernist and ‘quasi‐postmodernist’ approaches have attracted critical response, to date, the state autonomy perspective has, to our knowledge, gone unchallenged. To address this theoretical lacuna, this paper analyses one writers attempt, via an historical case study, to uphold state autonomy theory by detailing the ongoing relationship between one quasi‐state agency and the practice of ‘race’ education in initial teacher education. We argue that there are serious conceptual weaknesses in this latest attempt to apply state autonomy theory to educational policy analysis. The arguments in the case study under consideration are seriously compromised by a basically flawed hypothesis, a misrepresentation of contemporary (neo‐) Marxist education policy analysis and by a fail...

Ethnicity, status groups and racialization: A contribution to a debate on national identity in Britain

This paper is an intervention in a debate on national identity between Kenneth Smith on the one hand, and Tariq Modood, Richard Berthoud and James Nazroo, on the other, which had its origins in the influential study, Ethnic Minorities in Britain written in 1997 by Modood, Berthoud and Nazroo, and also Jane Lakey, Patten Smith, Satnam Virdee and Sharon Beishon. I pay particular attention to Smith’s insistence on ethnic self-selection; his critical observations on the concept of ‘ethnicity’; and his advocacy of its replacement with the Weberian concept of ‘status groups.’ It is argued first of all, that self-selection should be pre-eminent; second that, in racialized societies, ‘ethnicity’ needs to be retained as a defining category; and third that the Marxist-derived concept of ‘racialization’ is more useful than ‘status groups’ as a way of understanding racism, both historically and in the present.

US Imperialism, Transmodernism and Education: A Marxist Critique

The author begins by discussing David Geoffrey Smiths analysis of the enantiomorphism inherent in the rhetoric of New American Imperialism. He goes on to examine critically Smiths defence of Enrique Dussels advocacy of transmodernism as a way of understanding this enantiomorphism and of moving beyond what are seen as the constraints of both modernism and postmodernism. The author argues that transmodernism has purchase in analysing the genesis and genealogy of the New Imperialism. The author then offers a critique, from a Marxist perspective, of both postmodernism and transmodernism. He suggests that, in moving beyond the mere deconstruction of postmodernism, transmodernism is theoretically and practically more progressive than both non-Marxist forms of modernism and postmodernism. However, he suggests that, in rejecting all forms of totalising synthesis, transmodern analysis, like postmodern analysis, is ultimately conducive to capitalism. He also suggests that, since transmodernisms agenda for change is solely analectical rather than dialectical, transmodernist proposals for change are not viable in the context of the current imperialist project. Turning to education in societies characterised by an enantiomorphism and enfraudening, he argues that, from a Marxist perspective, the role of education should be to transform schools from sites of misrepresentation and conformity to the needs of neo-liberal capitalism and imperialism into sites of social justice.