Neo-liberalism and revolution: Marxism for emerging critical educators

Maisuria, Alpesh

Abstract

This entry has been written for those who are arriving at Marxism as newcomers, and curious about where to start. This entry is an explication of some fundamentals of Marxism, which is argued as the most efficacious theoretical framework for understanding the current historical conjuncture. I then provide a description of the development of capitalism into its current neo-liberal form and its core features. Doing this work is important because while scholars regularly refer to capitalism/neo-liberalism, they rarely explicate its fundamentals. Having this specification of neo-liberalism will provide a referent for the more sophisticated analysis discussion in the entry, which elaborates on the concepts of mystification and feasibility. The discussion revolves around the general question: what mechanisms generate the tendency for most people to acquiesce (or even assent) to neo-liberalism, despite the recognition that neo-liberalism seems to be creating an environment where flourishing is not possible for the many? To address this question, I suggest the critical importance of the concept of mystification, particularly of inequality and inequity; and also, the concept of feasibility, which relates to the need for neo-liberalism to generate a mass and general consciousness of an impossibility of alternative to itself. Counterposing this, I draw the entry to a close by presenting a discussion about the need for critical educators to work for generating a consciousness of the feasibility of an alternative to neo-liberalism to emerge.

• Online Publication Date: Jan 7, 2022
• Publication Date: Feb 7, 2022
• Deposit Date: May 9, 2022
• Publisher: Brill Academic Publishers
• Pages: 483-500
• Series Title: Critical Understanding in Education, Volume: 3
• Book Title: Encyclopaedia of Marxism and Education
• Chapter Number: 30
• ISBN: 978-90-04-50560-5
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004505612_030
• Keywords: commodity exchange; profit; Neo-liberalism; revolution; Marxism; class; exploitation; labour; society; capitalism; social class; feasibility; mystification; 4th IR; class consciousness; meritocracy; social mobility; Gramsci
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/9482269
• Publisher URL: https://brill.com/view/book/9789004505612/BP000040.xml?language=en
• Contract Date: Dec 14, 2021