The Political Construction of Education: The State, School Expansion, and Economic Change / Edition 1

by Bruce Fuller, Richard Rubinson

Overview

Political actors within the modern state—in both the West and the Third World—argue that more schooling can provide remedies for a variety of economic and social ills. But what is the state's actual efficacy in sparking demands for, and constructing effective forms of, mass schooling? Is the state really an effective agent relative to educational demands originating from other institutions: competing economic interests, the family, and the school institution itself? Under what institutional conditions does school expansion spur economic growth and change?

Since the 1960s, institutional and economic theorists have advanced responses to these important issues from three theoretical perspectives: functionalist human capital, class conflict, and world institution frameworks. This volume reviews historical work on these critical issues, conducted over the past two decades in the United States, Europe, and the Third World. Review chapters are complemented by reports of new findings—authored by a novel array of international economists, sociologists, and political analysts pulled together for this unusual initiative. Following a review chapter on the state's role in boosting mass schooling and economic change, Part 1 focuses on the historical origins of literacy and schooling. Part 2 reports original work on national economic effects of school expansion, drawing on experiences from both industrialized and developing economies. Part 3 turbans to the issue of how central states attempt to craft the supply of, and manipulate popular demand for, schooling. Practical implications are discussed throughout. Top researchers have gathered an abundance of evidence, providing a rich reference volume for scholars and social policy makers alike.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780275938314
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	04/20/1992
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	280
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.75(d)

About the Author

BRUCE FULLER is Associate Professor of Education at Harvard University. He has worked on social policy and economic issues at the World Bank and the U.S. State Department. His current research focuses on how states attempt to influence local schools and families.

RICHARD RUBINSON is Professor of Sociology at Emory University. His research is concerned with political and economic change in the world-economy. He is presently investigating the political determinants and economic consequences of national educational change.

Table of Contents

Preface
Does the State Expand Schooling? Review of Evidence by Bruce Fuller and Richard Rubinson
Rising Demand for Schooling: Institutional Origins and Political Accommodations
The Rise of Popular Literacy in Europe by David Mitch
Building the Institution of Mass Schooling: Isomorphism in the Modern World by Francisco O. Ramirez and Marc J. Ventresca
Institutions, Citizenship, and Schooling in Sweden by John Boli
Western versus Islamic Schooling: Conflict and Accommodation in Nigeria by William R. Morgan and J. Michael Armer
Legitimating the State's Involvement in Early Childhood Programs by Sorca O'Connor
When Does School Expansion Influence Economic Change?
Specifying the Effects of Education on National Economic Growth by Richard Rubinson and Bruce Fuller
Educational Expansion and Economic Growth in the Modern World, 1913-1985 by Aaron Benavot
The Economics of School Expansion and Decline by Walter W. McMahon
The Political Construction of School Supply
Strong States and Educational Expansion: France versus Italy by Jerald Hage and Maurice Garnier
Who Should Be Schooled? The Politics of Class, Race, and Ethnicity by Pamela Barnhouse Walters
The Politics of American Catholic School Expansion, 1870-1930 by David Baker
Historical Expansion of Special Education by John Richardson
Conditions Underlying Legitimate and Strong Institutions
The Social Construction of Motives for Educational Expansion by John W. Meyer
Index