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cover of episode Neil Kraus, "The Fantasy Economy: Neoliberalism, Inequality, and the Education Reform Movement" (Temple UP, 2023)

Neil Kraus, "The Fantasy Economy: Neoliberalism, Inequality, and the Education Reform Movement" (Temple UP, 2023)

2025/4/16
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Neil Krauss: 自里根时代以来，企业利益和教育改革者便大力宣传教育体系和劳动力都存在长期性缺陷的错误观点，将教育视为公民获得经济机会的唯一途径，而这掩盖了新自由主义决策导致的工资停滞、不平等加剧和贫困等问题。几十年来新自由主义的决策，而非教育体系，导致了工资停滞、不平等加剧甚至贫困。教育应该被视为社会必需品，而不是新自由主义议程的工具。新自由主义利用“幻想经济”这一对经济和教育体系的误导性描述，来为其自身利益服务。“幻想经济”将教育定义为公民获得经济机会的唯一途径，并有意减少国家在减轻市场影响方面的作用，从而将工资停滞和不平等加剧的问题归咎于教育体系。人力资本理论将个人的收入归因于其正规教育水平或技能，这被用来解释不平等现象。我们无法通过教育来解决贫困和不平等问题，因为劳动力市场是劳动力市场本身。新自由主义需要一个巨大的转移注意力的手段才能得以实施，而教育体系正是这个转移注意力的工具。新自由主义政策不受欢迎，因此将经济机会的讨论转移到教育体系上，以此来转移公众注意力。为了维持高度不平等且日益不稳定的经济体系，需要将教育体系和劳动力描绘成永远不足的，以此来转移公众对经济问题的关注。美国公民的受教育程度比以往任何时候都高，教育体系并没有失败。企业开始使用“技能差距”而非“教育差距”的说法，因为在教育程度方面，很难论证存在差距。乔治城大学教育与劳动力中心等机构发布的关于劳动力市场对教育要求的替代性数据，歪曲了教育在经济中的作用。教育问责制运动，特别是“不让一个孩子掉队”法案，是“幻想经济”总体目标的体现，它通过强调成绩差距来推行标准化测试，而这实际上是转移公众对经济问题的注意力。特许学校和教育券运动是“幻想经济”的组成部分，它利用对技能差距的虚假描述，来为这些政策辩护。要摆脱“幻想经济”，必须重新确立教育的多种角色，这需要将教育从人力资本理论的束缚中解放出来，并重新构建经济机会的概念。公众希望建立一个多方面的、民主运作的、资金充足的面对面公共教育体系，重视教育工作者与学生之间的人际关系，并培养学生广泛的技能。新冠疫情加剧了将教育转向在线的趋势，而“好工作”的概念也被用来为这种趋势辩护。 Tom DeSena: 略

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This chapter challenges the common assumption that the education system is failing, arguing that it's a scapegoat for broader economic issues. It emphasizes that education cannot single-handedly control the labor market and that misguided policies have exacerbated inequality.
  • The idea that the education system and labor force are deficient was wrongly promoted, starting in the Reagan era.
  • Misguided policies like accountability and school choice have increased inequality.
  • Education should be viewed as a social necessity, not an engine of the neoliberal agenda.

Shownotes Transcript

Wage stagnation, growing inequality, and even poverty itself have resulted from decades of neoliberal decision making, not the education system, writes Neil Kraus in his urgent call to action, The Fantasy Economy: Neoliberalism, Inequality, and the Education Reform Movement )(Temple UP, 2023).

Kraus claims the idea that both the education system and labor force are chronically deficient was aggressively and incorrectly promoted starting in the Reagan era, when corporate interests and education reformers emphasized education as the exclusive mechanism providing the citizenry with economic opportunity. However, as this critical book reveals, that is a misleading articulation of the economy and education system rooted in the economic self-interests of corporations and the wealthy.

The Fantasy Economy challenges the basic assumptions of the education reform movement of the last few decades. Kraus insists that education cannot control the labor market and unreliable corporate narratives fuel this misinformation. Moreover, misguided public policies, such as accountability and school choice, along with an emphasis on workforce development and STEM over broad-based liberal arts education, have only produced greater inequality.

Ultimately, The Fantasy Economy argues that education should be understood as a social necessity, not an engine of the neoliberal agenda. Kraus' book advocates for a change in conventional thinking about economic opportunity and the purpose of education in a democracy.

Neil Kraus is Professor of Political Science at the University of Wisconsin, River Falls. He is the author of Majoritarian Cities: Policy Making and Inequality in Urban Politics and Race, Neighborhoods, and Community Power: Buffalo Politics, 1934-1997.

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