Conflict Theory, Extended: A Framework for Understanding Contemporary Struggles Over Education Policy

Conflicts over education and education policy continue, and now new, diversified actors push for change while technologies expand the terrain where conflicts unfold. Conflict theories would seem best suited to address these conflicts. However, despite conflict theories’ substantive contributions, th...

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Published inEducational policy (Los Altos, Calif.) Vol. 37; no. 3; pp. 587 - 623
Main Authors Ferrare, Joseph J., Phillippo, Kate
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.05.2023
SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
Subjects
Conflict
Conflict theory
Education policy
Educational Policy
Educational sociology
Educational Theories
Elementary Secondary Education
Equal Education
Ideology
Intersectionality
Policy making
Politics of Education
Power Structure
politics of education
educational policy
power
educational equity
conflict theory
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Summary:Conflicts over education and education policy continue, and now new, diversified actors push for change while technologies expand the terrain where conflicts unfold. Conflict theories would seem best suited to address these conflicts. However, despite conflict theories’ substantive contributions, they are infrequently used in the US context and have met with critique, viewed as too reductive to fully contend with the complexities of conflict in the educational arena. In this paper, we extend traditional conflict theories to address these longstanding critiques and to also incorporate contemporary complexities and developments. Our study is grounded in recent developments in sociological field theory and intersectionality theory. Our proposed extension of conflict theory was developed in conversation with twelve empirical cases of recent conflicts in P-16 education. This iterative project’s novel insights offer practical implications for policy actors, researchers, and policymakers.
ISSN:0895-9048
1552-3896
DOI:10.1177/08959048211042567