CRISIS

 

CRISIS

I have an article, Crisis, forthcoming in the following book:

Glenn

London, 17^th November 2020

 

Critical Reflections on the Language of Neoliberalism in Education
Dangerous Words and Discourses of Possibility

 

Edited By 

Spyros Themelis

 

ISBN 9780367629564

December 29, 2020 Forthcoming by Routledge

252 Pages

 

Book Description

Recognizing the dominance of neoliberal forces in education, this volume offers a range of critical essays which analyze the language used to underpin these dynamics.

Combining essays from over 20 internationally renowned contributors, this text offers a critical examination of key terms which have become increasingly central to educational discourse. Each essay considers the etymological foundation of each term, the context in which they have evolved, and likewise their changed meaning. In doing so, these essays illustrate the transformative potential of language to express or challenge political, social, and economic ideologies. The text’s musings on the language of education and its implications for the current and future role of education in society make clear its relevance to today’s cultural and political landscape.

This exploratory monograph will be of interest to doctoral students, researchers, and scholars with an interest in the philosophy of education, educational policy and politics, as well as the sociology of education and the impacts of neoliberalism.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction

Part I. Endangering words

[1]. Crisis

Glenn Rikowski

 

[2]. Neoliberal globalization

Spyros Themelis

 

[3]. Social value

Ewen Speed

 

[4]. Alienation

Inny Accioly

 

[5]. Hegemony

Alpesh Maisuria

 

[6]. Immiseration

Richard Hall

 

[7] Commodity

Joss Winn

 

[8]. Social mobility

Spyros Themelis

 

[9].Social Inclusion

Angela Cator

 

[10]. Markets

Dionysios Gouvias

 

[11].League tables and Targets

Patrick Yarker

 

[12]. Managerialism

Richard Hall

 

[13]. Employability

Tom G. Griffiths and Bill Robertson

 

[14] Ability

Patrick Yarker

 

 

Part II. Words of possibility

 

[15]. Essence

Grant Banfield

 

[16]. Reflexivity

Elisabeth Simburger

 

[17]. Utopia

Tom G. Griffiths and Jo Williams

 

[18]. Hope

Hasan Hüseyin Aksoy

 

[19]. Social movements

Laurence Cox

 

[20]. Revolutionary Pedagogy

Peter McLaren

 

[21]. Alternative education

Richard Hall

 

[22]. Youth

Sandra Gadelha and Claudiana Alencar

 

[23]. Educators

Maria Chalari and Eleftheria Atta

 

[24]. School

José Ernandi Mendes

 

[25]. Post-Critical Education

Juan Ramón Rodríguez Fernández

 

[26]. Educational Commons

Yannis Pechtelidis

 

[27]. Socialism

Dave Hill

　

Conclusion: Stammering

Mike Neary

 

Spyros Themelis is Associate Professor in the School of Education and Lifelong Learning, University of East Anglia (UEA), UK.

See details at Routledge: https://www.routledge.com/Critical-Reflections-on-the-Language-of-Neoliberalism-in-Education-Dangerous/Themelis/p/book/9780367629564

Amazon.co.uk: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Critical-Reflections-Language-Neoliberalism-Education/dp/0367629569

***END***

Posted here by Glenn Rikowski:

Glenn Rikowski @ Academia: http://independent.academia.edu/GlennRikowski 

Glenn Rikowski @ ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Glenn_Rikowski

 

Social Change in Greece by Spyros Themelis - Book Launch

SOCIAL CHANGE AND EDUCATION IN GREECE

BOOK LAUNCH EVENT

Social Change and Education in Greece: A Study in Class Struggle Dynamics

Dr Spyros Themelis, Senior Lecturer in Education, Middlesex University

MONDAY, 22 April, 2013

5:00pm to 7:30pm

Middlesex University, Hendon Campus, College Building, C219/C220, The Burroughs, London NW4 4BT

Event highlights:

Opening/closing chaired by Waqar Ahmad, Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Research and Enterprise, MiddlesexUniversity

Guest Speakers

Confirmed Speakers:

Tony Green, Palgrave Macmillan Marxism and Education Series Editor, University of London, Institute of Education

Professor Joyce Canaan, Professor of Sociology, Birmingham City University 

Dr Eva Gamarnikow, Department of Policy Studies, University of London, Institute of Education

Dr Stathis Kouvelakis, Reader in Political Theory, King's College London

Who should attend: Research active staff, readers and professors from all Schools and Institutes at Middlesex University and other universities, educationalists, research students, media and policy makers.

This event is free to attend, but participants must confirm their attendance by email by 15^th April. RSVP by 15^th April to Daniela Pantica on D.Pantica@mdx.ac.uk 

About the Book

Social Change and Education in Greece: A Study in Class Struggle Dynamics (2013, Palgrave

Macmillan, New York). A New Book by Spyros Themelis, Middlesex University

The post-war orthodoxy postulated that education is both a mechanism for upward social mobility and an engine for economic growth. This book takes a challenging and refreshingly novel approach to the way education and social mobility are researched and theorised. The key message it delivers goes against the dominant post-war orthodoxy, which has postulated that education is both a mechanism for upward social mobility and an engine for economic growth in liberal capitalist countries. The conclusion the author reaches flies in the face of mainstream political consensus that perceives social mobility as panacea for the provision of occupational opportunities and an instrument for the levelling of the playing field. Much of what lays beneath social mobility, Spyros Themelis argues (apart from a great deal of sophisticated number-crunching) is a celebration and acceptance of an unequal system of allocation of opportunities.

This is one among very few studies that explore social mobility and attendant processes with the use of both qualitative and quantitative methods. The author views social mobility not merely as the outcome of the movements of individuals from one income or occupational group into another, detached from their societal, community and family context, as in conventional mobility studies. Instead, he examines social mobility as a complex process, where socio-economic (e.g. migration), cultural (e.g. marital practices and community values) and political (e.g. political patronage) forces, experiences, arrangements and strategies interact and interconnect in impeding or enhancing individuals' and families' social mobility movements.

The book makes some contribution to the ongoing debate about the economic crisis that has hit Greece since 2009. It suggests that the failure of education to promote equality of opportunities is symptomatic of the failure of the wider system to prioritise fair and equitable arrangements. If Greece's current situation is to teach us a lesson, this is to urgently rethink about the whole system, not only in Greece but in the rest of the Western world too. The myth of education-based meritocracy and unfettered social mobility has anaesthetised Western societies to the multitude of social inequalities with which they are permeated. These might be hard times, but all the more appropriate to urge us to think about positive social change.

Dr Spyros Themelis is a Senior Lecturer in Education, Department of Education, Middlesex University, UK.

The book can be ordered from this link: http://www.palgrave.com/products/title.aspx?pid=537469 

It is published in the Palgrave Macmillan Marxism and Education Series: http://www.palgrave.com/products/SearchResults.aspx?s=ME&fid=3658 and http://us.macmillan.com/series/MarxismandEducation

Details on the book were originally provided at: http://rikowski.wordpress.com/2013/02/08/social-change-and-education-in-greece-a-study-in-class-struggle-dynamics-a-new-book-by-spyros-themelis/

**END**

Cold Hands & Quarter Moon, ‘Stagnant’ at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLjxeHvvhJQ (live, at the Belle View pub, Bangor, north Wales); and at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkP_Mi5ideo (new remix, and new video, 2012)  

'Cheerful Sin' – a song by Victor Rikowski: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIbX5aKUjO8

Posted here by Glenn Rikowski

All that is Solid for Glenn Rikowski: http://rikowski.wordpress.com

The Flow of Ideas: http://www.flowideas.co.uk

Glenn Rikowski on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/glenn.rikowski

Online Publications at: http://www.flowideas.co.uk/?page=pub&sub=Online%20Publications%20Glenn%20Rikowski

Social Change and Education in Greece: A Study in Class Struggle Dynamics

SOCIAL CHANGE AND EDUCATION IN GREECE: A STUDY IN CLASS STRUGGLE DYNAMICS – A NEW BOOK BY SPYROS THEMELIS

A New Book by Spyros Themelis, Middlesex University

Social Change and Education in Greece: A Study in Class Struggle Dynamics (2013, Palgrave

Macmillan, New York)

This book takes a challenging and refreshingly novel approach to the way education and social mobility are researched and theorised. The key message it delivers goes against the dominant post-war orthodoxy, which has postulated that education is both a mechanism for upward social mobility and an engine for economic growth in liberal capitalist countries. The conclusion the author reaches flies in the face of mainstream political consensus that perceives social mobility as panacea for the provision of occupational opportunities and an instrument for the levelling of the playing field. Much of what lays beneath social mobility, Spyros Themelis argues (apart from a great deal of sophisticated number-crunching) is a celebration and acceptance of an unequal system of allocation of opportunities.

This is one among very few studies that explore social mobility and attendant processes with the use of both qualitative and quantitative methods. The author views social mobility not merely as the outcome of the movements of individuals from one income or occupational group into another, detached from their societal, community and family context, as in conventional mobility studies. Instead, he examines social mobility as a complex process, where socio-economic (e.g. migration), cultural (e.g. marital practices and community values) and political (e.g. political patronage) forces, experiences, arrangements and strategies interact and interconnect in impeding or enhancing individuals' and families' social mobility movements.

The book makes some contribution to the ongoing debate about the economic crisis that has hit Greece since 2009. It suggests that the failure of education to promote equality of opportunities is symptomatic of the failure of the wider system to prioritise fair and equitable arrangements. If Greece's current situation is to teach us a lesson, this is to urgently rethink about the whole system, not only in Greece but in the rest of the Western world too. The myth of education-based meritocracy and unfettered social mobility has anaesthetised Western societies to the multitude of social inequalities with which they are permeated. These might be hard times, but all the more appropriate to urge us to think about positive social change.

Dr Spyros Themelis is a Senior Lecturer in Education, Department of Education, Middlesex University, UK.

The book can be ordered from this link: http://www.palgrave.com/products/title.aspx?pid=537469 

It is published in the Palgrave Macmillan Marxism and Education Series: http://www.palgrave.com/products/SearchResults.aspx?s=ME&fid=3658

Congratulations Spyros! I look forward to reading it, and also the book launch - Glenn Rikowski

**END**

Cold Hands & Quarter Moon, ‘Stagnant’ at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLjxeHvvhJQ (live, at the Belle View pub, Bangor, north Wales); and at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkP_Mi5ideo (new remix, and new video, 2012)  

'Cheerful Sin' – a song by Victor Rikowski: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIbX5aKUjO8

Posted here by Glenn Rikowski

All that is Solid for Glenn Rikowski: http://rikowski.wordpress.com

The Flow of Ideas: http://www.flowideas.co.uk

Glenn Rikowski on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/glenn.rikowski

Online Publications at: http://www.flowideas.co.uk/?page=pub&sub=Online%20Publications%20Glenn%20Rikowski