A poststructural critique of current neoliberal philosophy and policy in education.
The poststructuralist critique of subject-centered reason is investigated, both historically and theoretically, against the background of the modernity/postmodernity and information society debates. Peters criticizes neoliberal constructions of the subject in education that rest heavily on the assumption of economic man. He searches for viable contemporary political forms by investigating the role of intellectuals and education in postmodern culture; the neoliberal doctrine of the self-limiting state; and its construction of market subjects such as education and the politics of space, ethics after Auschwitz, science and technology, the critical role of mass media, cybernetics and cyberspace, democracy and the politics of difference.
Series Foreword
Preface
Introduction: The Critique of Reason
Poststructuralism and the Philosophy of the Subject: "The Games of the Will to Power Against the Labour of the Dialectic"
Poststructuralism, Intellectuals and Postmodern Culture
Against Alain Finkielkraut's The Undoing of Thought: Culture, Education and Postmodernism
Foucault, Discourse and Education: NeoLiberal Governmentality
Architecture of Resistance: Education and the "Politics of Space"
"After Auschwitz": Ethics and Education Policy
Science and Education in the "Information Society"
Vattimo, Postmodernity and the Transparent Society
Cybernetics, Cyberspace and the University: Herman Hesse's The Glass Bead Game and the Dream of a Universal Language
Monoculturalism, Multiculturalism and Democracy: The Politics of Difference or Recognition?
Bibliography
Index
Endorsements
Through a number of publications over the last three years, Michael Peters has established himself in education as a leading scholar on poststructuralist thought. This book, along with his recent collection on Lyotard, ^IEducation and the Postmodern Condition^R (Bergin & Garvey, 1995), confirms this judgement. Peters brings together in this latest book...fresh content and insights gained from his extensive and ongoing reading of the original and secondary sources. This will be an important source for educationalists interested in poststructuralist thought and French philosophy since World War II.—James Marshall, Professor and Dean of Education^LThe University of Auckland, New Zealand
Mike Peters is one of the few contemporary educational theorists who knows the urgent questions that need to be raised and has the intellectual guts to bring them into the arena of debate....it is difficult not to remain highly impressed by the range and scope of Peters' erudition and his scholarly grasp of the field.—Peter McLaren, School of Education^LUniversity of California, Los Angeles
Wide in scope and generous in its insight, Michael Peters' book makes fascinating connections and serves up a smorgasbord of thematic delights as it courses its way through highways and byways of contemporary scholarship. The book is a treasure trove for connoisseurs of postmodern thought.—Colin Lankshear, School of Language and Literacy Education^LQueensland University of Technology, Australia
