Teague, Glynis Jean; (2010) Alienation, education and markets : a philosophical discussion. Doctoral thesis , Institute of Education, University of London.

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Abstract

This thesis offers a Marxian critique of `marketization' in school provision and schooling. The first part argues that a degree of marketization of school provision and schooling has taken place in the UK. It examines contemporary philosophical defences of these markets in the works of James Tooley and Harry Brighouse. The second part broadens the philosophical context by examining some of the philosophical ideas associated with the growth of markets which Marx, in his theory of alienation, is both influenced by, and against which he reacts. The central argument is that alienation is a necessary consequence of marketization, on account of the transfer of control (and, increasingly, ownership rights) from the public to the private sector. This results in the control of school provision and schooling necessarily being passed, even from those who are to some extent working under the direction of democratically elected institutions, to those who may well use the marketization process primarily to further their own interests. This further loss of control is bound to increase alienating relations and estrangement. The third part examines whether it is possible to escape from alienation by moving in a socialist direction while retaining markets to varying degrees. Critical accounts are given of different proposals of this kind, drawn from David Miller, Patricia White and Oskar Lange. It is argued that, because these proposals all retain market relations, these would make an unalienated form of education impossible. By contrast Mihail Markovic argues that markets, as remnants of capitalism, cannot of necessity prefigure an unalienated society. The final chapter, with reference to Marx's concept of 'the realm of freedom', distinguishes Marx from anarchist thought and illustrates the relations and conditions which would be necessary to support an unalienated society, and enable education as an `end-in-itself'.

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