This article examines the current crisis of neoliberal capitalism and globalized imperialism from the perspective of a Marxist-humanist approach to pedagogy known as "revolutionary critical pedagogy". It is written as an epistle to the transnational capitalist class, demanding that those who willingly serve its interests reconsider their…

When citizens participate in policy production, the advantages go beyond policy outcomes--though the presumption is that participation leads to better public policy. Robust democracy characterized by agonistic exchanges among policy actors ought to encourage learning, dialogue, empow­erment, equity, and a shared spirit of inquiry. This article…

Positive political discourse is the heart of democracy. The purposes of political discourse include making an effective decision about the course the society should take and building a moral bond among all members of the society. A responsibility of social sciences within a democratic society is to provide the theory, research, and normative…

Current Norwegian curricular guidelines oblige schools to educate citizens with a critical perspective on society. From a discourse theoretical perspective, this obligation implies that various school subjects, and in particular social studies, offer discourses on social issues that allow for different points of view and critical evaluation.…

This article presents, through a critical analysis, a reflection on a noticeable change that focuses on some aspects related to the assessment of different parts of the educational system. In particular, it concentrates on the assessment of teaching institutions which has been considered by authorities that are distant from the school life and…

Knowledge here means something similar to but broader than science--it is reliable but not necessarily as systematic or explicit. A cooperative economy is contrasted with the competitive economy that has dominated political thinking almost everywhere for about half a century - the neo-liberal period. It is argued that the neo-liberal ideology and…

Environmental education (EE) continues to focus on enhancing people's ecological knowledge to encourage sustainable actions. This deficit approach presumes that once informed about environmental harms, people will work towards sustainable solutions for healthy societies. Yet research overwhelmingly demonstrates that knowledge of environmental…

The manner in which the built environment is constructed has a tremendous effect on the degree to which health, wealth and social outcomes are distributed within a society. This is particularly evident when a crisis of the natural environment affects the built environment, as was the case after the Haitian earthquake of 2010. Understanding the…

Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in women worldwide. The incidence rates are such that one in nine Canadian women will be diagnosed in her lifetime. While social science research has demonstrated the influence of social, political, economic and environmental factors on health outcomes, many still emphasize the role of…

Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) such as Bisphenol A (BPA) and phthalates are ubiquitous in our environment and a growing body of research indicates that EDCs may adversely affect human development. Fetal development is particularly susceptible to EDC exposure, and prenatal care providers are being asked to educate women about the risks of…

Although considerable work has been done around the supposed successes and failures of education reform in post-Katrina New Orleans, concerns about the public/private qualities of new policies are often not discussed explicitly. In kind, this article serves to investigate theoretical conceptions of the public as they relate to education while…

The mishandling of pre- and post-Hurricane Katrina rescue and recovery is stunningly similar to the mishandling by those who have been in charge of Louisiana public education over the past seven years. This includes the devaluing of the teaching profession, the rise of the marketization of education, and the minimizing of the common good. In this…

There is a claim currently circulating the European Union (EU), both cynical and misleading: "multiculturalism is dead in Europe". No wonder, as the conglomerate of nation-states/EU has silently handed over one of its most important debates--that of European identity--to the left and right wing parties, recently followed by several…

This article focuses on special education in New Orleans post Hurricane Katrina. After Hurricane Katrina, Louisiana's Recovery School District (RSD) took over 102 of the city's 128 schools with the stated goal of creating a "choice district" for parents. This "choice distric"' is made up of RSD direct-run…

"Truthout" contributor, director of "Truthout's" Public Intellectual Project (truth-out.org/public-intellectual-project) and Truthout board member Henry A. Giroux responds to questions about how the excesses of neoliberal politics have reshaped and subverted the democratic mission of higher education.