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Re: [xmca]schools-without-computers-by-choice-and-conviction-that-they-dont-help-kids

C'mon Huw! :) "Neo-liberal" is an extremely common term in public discourse here in Australia. Of course I can't answer for the US, even though the ideas arrived here from the US. Here's the Wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neoliberalism which shows its specific meanings in a number of different countries. I would say that the term came in in the wake of the failure of both Keynes and Milton Friedman, though the notion is very sympathetic to Milton Friedman's ideology, but not so closely associated with control of the macro-economic levers by central government. Part of the difficulty of accepting the term in the US may be the use of "liberal" as a term of abuse by those who are in fact "neo-liberals". The ideas are native to the US but the choice of word is somewhat "un-American." :) 

Andy

Huw Lloyd wrote:

On 30 October 2011 23:57, Michael Glassman <MGlassman@ehe.osu.edu> wrote:


Hi Huw.

Neo-liberal has almost nothing to do with traditional definitions of
liberal.  There is a long and convoluted history to the term.  I might
suggest Naomi Klein's book for a good definition if you are interested.



That it explains why I didn't know it.  It disqualifies itself.

Huw



Michael

________________________________

From: xmca-bounces@weber.ucsd.edu on behalf of Huw Lloyd
Sent: Sun 10/30/2011 7:44 PM
To: eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity
Subject: Re:
[xmca]schools-without-computers-by-choice-and-conviction-that-they-dont-help-kids



On 30 October 2011 22:26, Michael Glassman <MGlassman@ehe.osu.edu> wrote:


Hi Huw,

My difficulty with the Gates Foundation is similar to many of the
corporate sponsors pouring money into foundations in attempts to

influence

education policy.  The worst among them is probably the Broad Foundation
which I believe has been highly detrimental in the corporate

administrators

that they are training and then bribing impoverished school districts

(with

tip money to them) to put them in power.  I think they've been failures
everywhere, but of course when you have backers like that you fail

upwards.

Anyway I see many of these "foundations" as attempting to instill a

strong

neo-liberal ideology in our schools.  It is part of Naomi Klein's "Shock
Doctrine."  These foundations are turning our school systems into the

Chile

of 2011.



Hi Michael,

The connotations of the term 'liberal' in the uk are mostly positive, for
instance of seeking to go beyond symptoms, such as tolerating anti-social
behaviour in favour of the promise of a more permanent and significant
improvement (i.e. transformation rather than containment).   The other side
of the coin is the notion of putting "well meaning" before realistic, or
practical, implementation.

Does "neo" in the political stream connote "watered down"?  As opposed to
its use in philosophy such as Neoplatonism.



Sorry for the rant, but this is one of my many peeves (so many I can't
even claim they are pets anymore).


Maybe you could start a peeve hive?  :)

Huw



Michael

________________________________

From: xmca-bounces@weber.ucsd.edu on behalf of Huw Lloyd
Sent: Sun 10/30/2011 4:56 PM
To: eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity
Subject: Re:


[xmca]schools-without-computers-by-choice-and-conviction-that-they-dont-help-kids


On 26 October 2011 13:03, Michael Glassman <MGlassman@ehe.osu.edu>

wrote:

[...]
There is also the idea of who is actually interviewed in the article

and

quote in the blog post.  The head of e-bay isn't really that much of a
technology person, more of a businessman, and I believe a strong
libertarian.  Don't assume the Silicon Valley people have that good a

grasp

of education.  Remember Bill Gates (I know, he's Seattle) and his
foundation are in my opinion doing more harm than good to open and
progressive education.

Hi Michael,

Out of interest, what flavour of objection do you have to the Gates
Foundation?

My thoughts were about the cautionary ideas exemplified by Ivan Illich
(secondary problems introduced by institutionalising monetarily poorer
countries and the like), though I'm currently fairly ignorant of what
they're actually doing.

Huw
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--
------------------------------------------------------------------------
*Andy Blunden*
Joint Editor MCA: http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/hmca20/18/1
Home Page: http://home.mira.net/~andy/
Book: http://www.brill.nl/default.aspx?partid=227&pid=34857

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