This book will address a number of urgent themes in education today that
include multiculturalism, the politics of whiteness, the globalization
of capital, neoliberalism, postmodernism, imperialism, and current
debates in Marxist social theory. The above themes will be linked to
critical educational praxis, particularly to teaching activities within
urban schools. Finally, the book will develop the basis for a wider
political project directed at resisting and transforming economic
exploitation, cultural homogenization, political repression, and gender
inequality. Recent and widespread scholarly attention has been given to
the unabated mercilessness of global capitalism. Little opposition
exists as capital runs amok, unhampered and undisturbed by the tectonic
upheaval that is occurring in the geopolitical landscape that has
recently witnessed the collapse of the Soviet Union and the regimes of
the Eastern Bloc. As we examine education policies within the context of
economic globalization, we attempt to address the extent to which the
pedagogy and politics of everyday life has fallen under the sway of what
we identify as cultural and economic imperialism. Finally, the book
raises a number of urgent questions: What are the current limitations to
educational reform efforts among the educational left? What are some of
the problems associated with certain developments within postmodern
education? How can a return to Marxist theory and revolutionary politics
revitalize the educational left at a time when capitalism appears to be
unstoppable? What actions need to be taken in both local and global
arenas to overcome the exploitation that the globalization of capital
has wreaked upon the world?
