Contesting global neoliberalism and creating alternative futures

Neoliberal policies, in spite of their considerable damage to economic equality, the environment, and education, remain dominant. In this paper, we suggest that neoliberalism has remained dominant in part because the power elite who benefit from the policies have gained control over both public deba...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inDiscourse (Abingdon, England) Vol. 32; no. 2; pp. 171 - 185
Main Authors Hursh, David W., Henderson, Joseph A.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Abingdon Taylor & Francis Group 01.05.2011
Routledge
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Subjects
Alternatives
Climate change
critical geography
Critical Theory
democracy
Economic Development
Economic Progress
Educational policy
Educational trends
Environment
Environmental attitudes
environmental sustainability
Future
Futures (Of society)
Illinois
Neoliberalism
New York
Philosophy
Political Attitudes
Political power
Politics of education
Power Structure
Quality of Life
Sustainability
Sustainable development
Urban Areas
World Views
New York
Illinois
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Summary:Neoliberal policies, in spite of their considerable damage to economic equality, the environment, and education, remain dominant. In this paper, we suggest that neoliberalism has remained dominant in part because the power elite who benefit from the policies have gained control over both public debate and policy-making. By dominating the discourse and logic regarding economic, environmental, and education decision-making, neoliberal proponents have largely succeeded in marginalizing alternative conceptions. We then use critical theory and critical geography, or 'historical geographic materialism', to situate communities, cities, and countries within different scales and networks and analyse current neoliberal policies. Environmentally, neoliberalism elevates the market and profit above considerations of climate change and environmental sustainability. Educationally, learning is valued primarily in terms of its contribution to economic growth. Finally, we engage in the more complicated question of what kind of world we want to live in, remembering that rather than a self-perpetuating neoliberalism in which individuals are responsible only for themselves and all decisions are supposedly made by the market, we have responsibility for our relationships with one another and our built and natural environment.
Bibliography:Refereed article. Includes bibliographical references.
Special themed issue : NEOLIBERALISM, CITIES AND EDUCATION IN THE GLOBAL SOUTH/NORTH
Discourse; v.32 n.2 p.171-185; May 2011
ISSN:0159-6306
1469-3739
DOI:10.1080/01596306.2011.562665