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Friday, September 28, 2012

Schools Matter: Twenty-Two Pages of Corporate Education Advertising, Or, The Atlantic Monthly's "Special Report"

Schools Matter: Twenty-Two Pages of Corporate Education Advertising, Or, The Atlantic Monthly's "Special Report":


Twenty-Two Pages of Corporate Education Advertising, Or, The Atlantic Monthly's "Special Report"

This begins a series of readings of articles and images promoting the "Reform Agenda" in the October Atlantic Monthly.  I will primarily be concerned with the conveyance of ideology.  However, I have asked my Errant collaborator Doug Martin to offer investigative analysis of the interconnectedness among the authors and the groups highlighted in the issue for cultural approbation.  I feel we should consider this a national manifesto detailing how our high priests of management intend to proceed regarding the "growing" of our "human capital," as Obama advisor and Nobel Laureate in economics James Heckman terms it ("Raising Workers").  This is the Huxleyan brush stroke applied over the Orwellian.

Also please see Paul's post (with great depth of detail in comments from Susan, et al.) from Sept. 8, "The Atlantic's Love-Fest for Rhee, Inexcusable."


I.

Morse Peckham tells us that meaning is not immanent in words.  There is no stable thing called a definition that