Corporatism and its Corruption of Democracy and Education

Abstract

Education is multifaceted and is influenced by the times in which we live. The bio-politics of our contemporary times regulate individuals’ lives in ways that can make it increasingly difficult to conceive of education and schooling today absent market-based assumptions or to even discuss education and schooling without the use of a market-based vocabulary. The economy is the reigning ideology, and its regulating reach extends to education and schooling. These times are ripe for entrepreneurs, who are taking advantage both locally and globally. In some respects, both education and educational reform manifest the characteristics of commodities—bought and sold, and marketed and exchanged trans-nationally. Though we feel that education can be one of the most noble of human activities, in this article we will focus on the dark underbelly of education and schooling: the commercial business side. We will show how economic ideologies, including commercial interests, market-based agendas, and, by extension, business-like ways of thinking, perceiving, and even valuing, are no longer confined to the financial aspects of schools but have come to take over and to usurp alternative views of education. In short, we will show how business and market-based, surplus-value thinking—what we term corporatism—have corrupted education, and, by extension, democracy

Keywords

• Corruption, democracy, education

References

1. Abramson, L. (2010). In teacher layoffs, seniority rules, but should it? All Things Considered,National Public Radio, June 2, 2010. Available: http://www.npr.org/ templates/story/story.php?storyId=127373157.
2. Adler, B. (2010). California online school seeks students, tax dollars. All things considered, September 14, 2010, National Public Radio. Available: http://www.npr.org/ templates/ story/story/php?storyId=129552627.
3. Althaus, D. (2000, November 20). The plague of graft. The Houston Chronicle. Retrieved7/26/2001 from www/chron/com/cs/CDA/printstory.hts/special/mexnewsurn /752147.
4. Anderson, G. L. (2010, May). The current US policy environment for educational leadership: New policy entrepreneurs. Paper presented to the annual meeting of the AmericanEducational Research Association, Denver, Colorado.
5. Ariely, D. (2008). Predictably irrational: The hidden forces that shape our decisions. New York: HarperCollins. Billett, S. (2004). Co-participation at work: Learning through work and throughout working lives. Studies in the education of adults, 36(2), 190-205.
6. Confessore, N., & Medina, J. (2010). More scrutiny for charter schools in debate over expansion. The New York Times, May 25, 2010. Available: http://www. nytimes.com/ 2010/05/26/education/26charters.html?scp=1&sq=morescrutinyforcharte rschoolsindebateoverexpansion&st=cse.
7. Coser, L. A. (1974). Greedy institutions: Patterns of undivided commitment. New York: The Free Press. Dempster, N., Freakley, M., & Parry, L. (2001). The ethical climate of public schooling under new public management. International Journal of Leadership in Education, 4(1), 1-12.
8. Deschryver, D. (2009). Analysis: ‘Race to the Top’ guidelines ambitious, demanding. News Briefs. Thompson Publishing Group: Tampa, FL. Available: http:// www.thompson.com /public/newsbrief.jsp?cat=EDUCATION&id=2279.

9. Dewey, J. (1916). Democracy and education: An introduction to the philosophy of education. New York: The Free Press.
10. DiMartino, C. (2010, May). Public-private partnerships: Hybrid leadership for the new hybrid organization. Paper presented to the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Denver, Colorado.
11. Drape, J., & Thomas, K. (2010). As athletic directors compete, big money flows to all sports. The New York Times, September 3, 2010, A1 & B14.
12. Duncan, A. (2010). Education status quo unacceptable. May 2, 2010. The Denver Post, available: http://www.denverpost.com/headlines/ci_14987320.
13. Earle, R. (2005). Public safety and the tone of corruption in government: Every citizen’s ethical responsibility for democracy. Speech given before the meeting of the Texas Values and Action Coalition, May 12, Austin, Texas. Retrieved May 23, 2005 from http://alt.coxnewsweb.com/statesman/metro/052005earle.pdf. Gabriel, T., & Medina, J. (2010). Big hedge fund leaders come to support of charter schools. The New York Times, May 10, 2010, p. A17.
14. Goodlad, J. I. (1979). What are schools for. Bloomington, IN: Phi Delta Kappa Educational Foundation. Greene, J. P., Kisida, B., & Mills, J. (2010). The higher price for higher ed. Austin American-Statesman, September 7, 2010, A6.
15. Gronn, P. (2003). The new work of educational leaders. London: Paul Chapman Publishing. Guthrie, S. E. (1993). Faces in the clouds: A new theory of religion. New York: Oxford University Press.
16. Harvey, D. (2005). A brief history of neoliberalism. New York: Oxford University Press. Klitgaard, R., Maclean-Abaroa, R., & Parris, H. L. (2000). Corrupt cities: A practical guide to cure and prevention. Oakland, CA: Institute for Contemporary Studies Press.
17. Lewin, T. (2009). Staff jobs on campus outpace enrollment. The New York Times, April 21,2009, A12.
18. Liptak, A. (2010). Justices, 5-4, reject corporate spending limit. The New York Times, January21, 2010. Available: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/22/ us/politics/22scotus.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=supreme%20court%20ruling%20 corporations%20like%20persons&st=cse.
19. Lugo, A. (2005). Reflections on border theory, culture, and the nation. In C. McCarthy, W. Crichlow, G. Dimitriadis & N. Dobly (eds.) Race, identity, and representation in education (2nd ed.) (pp. 43-57). New York: Routledge. Lukacs, J. (2005). When democracy goes wrong. Harper’s Magazine, 310(1859), 13-18.
20. Maher, J. (2009). In football, Horn’s are the nation’s biggest cash cow. The Austin American Statesman, December 8, 2009. Available: http://www.statesman.com/ sports/in-football-horns-are-nations-biggest-cash-cow-109068.html?cxtype=rss_ece_ frontpage.
21. Maher, J. (2010). Horns’ $10.15 million in royalties top list. The Austin American-Statesman,August 28, 2010, C10. McCrum, R. (2010). Globish: How the English language became the world’s language. New York: W. W. Norton & Company.
22. Medina, J. (2009). City’s schools share their space, and bitterness. The New York Times, November 29, 2009. Available: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/30/ education/ 30space.html. Newsweek. (2005). Perspectives. June 6, 2005, p. 21.
23. Noonan, J. T. (1984). Bribes. New York: MacMillan Publishing Company.
24. Price, A. (2010). Texas Longhorns Energy to power UT fans. The Austin American-Statesman, August 1, 2010. Available: http://www.statesman.com/news/local/ texas-longhorns-energy-to-power-ut-fans-836042.html?cxtype=rss_ece_frontpage.
25. Ranciere, J. (1991). The ignorant schoolmaster: Five lessons in intellectual emancipation. Berkeley: Stanford University Press.
26. Ranciere, J. (1998). Disagreement: Politics and philosophy. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. Ranciere, J. (2006). Hatred of democracy. New York: Verso.
27. Rushe, D. (2002). Divorce dirt uncovers true Welch perks: The secret rewards of former GE chief Jack Welch have been made public. The Sunday Times, December 1, 2002. Available: http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/article838787.ece.
28. Sah, S., & Loewenstein, G. (2010). Effect of reminders of personal sacrifice and suggested rationalizations on residents’ self-reported willingness to accept gifts. Journal of the American Medical Association, 304(11), 1204-1211.
29. Sarason, S. B. (1996). Revisiting “The culture of school and the problem of change.” New York: Teachers College Press. Sarason, S. B. (1998). Charter schools: Another flawed educational reform? New York: Teachers College Press.
30. Simmel, G. (1978). The philosophy of money (T. Bottomore & D. Frisby, trans.) London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
31. Shirky, C. (2008). Here comes everybody: The power of organizing without organizations. New York: The Penguin Press.
32. Sleeter, C. (2007, April). Equity, democracy and neoliberal assaults on teacher education. Paper presented to the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Chicago, IL.
33. St. Petersburg Times (2003). Tyco jury sees party tape. Oct. 29, 2003. Available: http://www.sptimes.com/2003/10/29/ Business/Tyco_jury_sees_party.shtml.
34. Strom, S. (2010). For charter school company, issues of spending and control. The New York Times, April 24, 2010, A1 & A10.
35. Waite, D., Moos, L., Sugrue, C., & Liu, C. (2007). Framing education: A conceptual synthesis of the major social institutional forces affecting education. Education and Society, 25(3), 5-33.
36. Watson, P. (2005). Afghanistan’s new crime problem. Austin AmericanStatesman, May 29, 2005, A20.
37. Weber, M. (1946). From Max Weber: Essays in sociology. H. H. Gerth & C. W. Mills (trans., eds.). New York: Oxford University Press. Zernike, K. (2009). Students are covering a bigger share of the costs of their college education. The New York Times, January 16, 2009, A15.
38. Zizek, S. (2010). Storm over the Eurozone: A permanent economic emergency. New Left Review, 64(2), 85-95.