Growing Up Modern: The Western State Builds Third World Schools (Critical Social Thought) Book

Western governments have a deep and unquestioning faith in the miraculous power of mass schooling to change society. In First and Third Worlds alike, the modern state pushes tirelessly to expand mass education and to strengthen the school's effect upon children. This book explores why, how and with what actual effects, politicians, bureaucrats and civic elite groups attempt to spread schooling to younger children, older adults and previously disenfranchised groups. The author argues that the school provides an institutional stage on which political actors signal various, sometimes contradictory, ideals, for example, a broadening membership in the polity, promises of mass opportunity in the wage sector and a deepening of a presumed commitment to the child's individual development. He advances a theory of the "fragile state" where Western political expectations and organizations are placed within pluralistic Third World settings. Using South Africa as an example, the author details the dilemmas faced by the central state, how it tries to influence local schools and what the results are within the classroom. This book is intended to be of interest to educational researchers and those concerned with sociology, politics and policy and development studies.Read More