Poststructuralism, Politics, and Education. Critical Studies in Education and Culture.

This book provides an introduction to poststructuralism by examining a range of interrelated themes central to the field of education that focus on the critique of reason and the problematic nature of the subject. The first chapter examines the history of poststructuralism in terms of the broader canvas of European formalism, futurism, surrealism, and structuralist poetics. The second chapter focuses on the notion of intellectuals and examines this idea in relation to postmodern culture. Chapter 3 continues the emphasis on culture to examine one of the most influential and virulent attacks on postmodern culture and poststructuralism. The fourth chapter address the neoliberal notion of the "market," utilizing Foucault's work to understand the paradox of the neoliberal state. Chapter 5 is an attempt to overcome the despatialized nature of critical educational theory. The metaphor of "after Auschwitz" is the organizing theme for the sixth chapter. The thesis of chapter 7 is that science and education become the main "knowledge industries" within an "information state." Chapter 8 extends and develops the emphasis on the politics of the information society by examining the work of the Italian postmodern philosopher Gianni Vattimo. The theme of communication and the dream of a universal language constitutes the subject of chapter 9, which is investigated in terms of the metaphor of Hermann Hesse's "The Glass Bead Game." The metaphor of the "glass bead game" is used as a cultural lens for investigating the dream of a universal language and for examining the place of the university in cyberspace. Endnotes accompany each chapter and an index is included. (Contains 298 references.) (LMI)