Neo-Marxism Flashcards
How does Henry Giroux (1984) disagree with Bowles and Gintis?
Giroux says the working class don't passively accept everything they are taught. Schools are sites of ideological struggle - they resist school discipline.
What do Neo-Marxists, like Willis, argue about who holds power?
They claim that capitalists hold more power than any other group, but not all the power.
What research methods did Willis use?
Interviews and participant observation at a Midlands Comp.
What did WIllis observe in the ‘lads’ subculture?
They opposed schools norms and values, seeing themselves as superior to teachers and “ear oles”.
What principles was the “lad” culture based on?
Sexism, racism and traditional working class masculinity (toughness and manual labour).
What was the aim of education for the “lads”?
They aren’t interested in academic qualifications, rather they just wanted to “have a laff”.
What type of jobs did Willis’ “lads” end up in?
Unskilled manual jobs where the culture was similar to theirs at school - lack of deference and “having a laff” to cope w/ tedious work they had little control over.
What happened despite the “lads” rebelling?
They reproduced class inequalities as they all moved into wc jobs.
How can one criticise Willis’ study?
It was produced in 1977 so may not be relevant anymore.
How do Neo-Marxists differ from Marxists?
They believe the hidden curriculum is not always accepted and that schools sometimes fail in socialising pupils (eg, Paul Willis).
What is a Neo-Marxist criticism of Marxists and Functionalists?
They over-emphasise conformity.
How are marxist and neo-marxist theories still relevant?
The influence of business in education is stronger than ever.
What does the Marxist Glenn Rikowski (2002) say about business involvement in education?
There has been a business takeover of schools in the UK.
What policies support Rikowski’s point?
Under New Labour (and the coalition) business-funded academies were created.
School services have been subcontracted to private enterprise - Blair and ETS.
How do Marxists and Functionalists view the hidden curriculum in comparison to neo-Marxists?
They both take extreme views of it.
Neo marxists say it is not as important as it has been made out to be.
