Althusser and Education
Before I started studying school finance from a socialist perspective, my research focused on educational theory. Specifically, I focused on the French communist philosopher Louis Althusser's theories of education. It took me eight years to finish a book on this subject, called Althusser and Education, which was published this month by Bloomsbury. My current work is sort of an application of Althusser's theory to school finance, so if you're interested in learning about the philosophical underpinnings of this newsletter then take a look. You can download the book for free through the creative commons.
Recently, some professors teaching a course on the politics of education in New Zealand asked me to present on Althusser's theory during their class, and field questions from their students. They were kind enough to record the lecture, which I've edited for this week's post. So here's a podcast-like lecture of me talking through some of the basics of Althusser's theory of education. It's about 40 minutes. I'm responding to the question of how education is political from Althusser's perspective. Enjoy!
