Critique and Utopia

New Developments in The Sociology of Education in the Twenty-First Century

Edited by Carlos Alberto Torres director, Paulo Freire Institute, UCLA, Antonio Teodoro

Publication date:

16 April 2007

Length of book:

192 pages

Publisher

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Dimensions:

246x161mm
6x10"

ISBN-13: 9780742538467

Critique and utopia are two of the central concepts of the sociology of education, and they indeed exemplify the critical traditions in the sociology of education as a discipline. This book analyzes, using theoretical frameworks and empirical data, the state of the art of the sociology of education at the beginning of the century, offering a systematic criticism of the dominant theories, and findings in the sociology of education. Key chapters focus on theoreticians who have made an impact in the discipline, including Basil Bernstein, Pierre Bourdieu, Paulo Freire. Yet, there is much more than theoretical analysis in this book. It also offers insights for policy and practice in diverse areas of education, including the formal, nonformal, and informal modalities of educational praxis.

Chapter 1 Introduction: Critique and Utopia in the Sociology of Education
Part 2 Part I: Sociology of Education: New Perspectives and Debates in the Twenty-First Century
Chapter 3 Schooling for Critical Education: The Reinvention of Schools as Democratic Organizations
Chapter 4 Globalization and the Rescaling of Educational Governance: A Case of Sociological Ectopia
Chapter 5 Human Rights and Citizenship: The Emergence of Human Rights Education
Chapter 6 Europe as a Bazaar: A Contribution to the Analysis of the Reconfiguration of Nation-states and New Forms of 'Living Together'
Chapter 7 Educational Policies and the Sense of Possibility: A Contribution to Democratic Education in a Progressive Age
Chapter 8 Rescuing Education from Corporate Takeover: from 'Public Choice' to Public Action
Part 9 Part II: Theoretical Resources for the Sociology of Education
Chapter 10 Basil Bernstein and the Sociology for Education
Chapter 11 Sociology of Education or the Education of Sociology? Paulo Freire and the Sociology of Education
Chapter 12 Bourdieu's Sociology of Education: Identifying Persistent Inequality, Unmasking Domination and Fighting Social Reproduction
Chapter 13 Paulo Freire, Education and Transformative Social Justice Learning

This book provides a significant contribution to the sociology of education. Bringing together current academic debates in Europe and the Americas, the volume connects theoretical debates with empirical data, and a critical analysis of our existing social reality with a language of possibility and transformation. Critique and Utopia: New Developments in the Sociology of Education in the Twenty First Century is an important reading for all those interested in the role that education plays - and could play - in the struggles for democracy in the current context of neoliberal globalization and beyond.