CHALLENGES TO DEMOCRACY IN AND BEYOND EDUCATION : american policy, politics, and media in a... cynical age

This book explores political cynicism as a driving force at the heart of the current crisis of democracy in the United States, focusing on the crisis and the role of education, popular culture, and news media in fostering and fighting cynicism. In this unique text, Van Heertum draws on historical and contemporary data, policy, and current events to map the growth of a cynicism that risks undermining the democratic principles upon which American society is built. Tracing the philosophical, social, and historical origins of an "ubiquitous cynicism" cultivated in political discourse, media, and educational policy, the chapters then explore avenues to challenge cynicism and restore hope through a more affirmative discourse, aesthetic education, media and educational reform, challenging rampant inequality, and methods to rein in corporate power. The book ultimately advocates for a radical democracy that can restore the power of the people to have a meaningful say in the decisions that affect their lives. A timely and useful contribution to the field of education, this book will be of interest to postgraduate students and researchers in the fields of educational policy and politics, the sociology of education, and American studies. Cover Half Title Series Page Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Table of Contents Acknowledgements Foreword Introduction The Day Democracy Almost Died Democracy Under Attack Across the Globe Press the Panic Button Now! The Plot Against America The Roots of Democratic Decline What Is Cynicism? Rays of Hope References Chapter 1: Defining Cynicism: The Roots of a Political Disease Make America Great Again What Is Cynicism? A Working Definition Neoliberal Globalization and Its Many, Many Discontents The Cultural Wars: Divide and Rule in a Postmodern World Neopopulism and the New World Order Educating Hope References Chapter 2: The Shifting Political Discourse: Do What I Say, Not What I Do What’s Good for the Goose From the Great Depression to the “Big Lie” The Tea Party Revolution: Sponsored by the Plutocracy The GOP Today: A Discourse of Resentment, Grievance and Indignation A More Affirmative Discourse References Chapter 3: Inequality, Racism and the Psychology of Cynicism: White Resentment and Neopopulism Unite The New Gilded Age Inequality by the Numbers Stopping and Even Reversing the Gains of the Civil Rights Era Resegregation and Polarization: Drawing Out the Connections The Not So Silent Majority and White Grievance Instrumentalizing Resentment into a Political Movement The Generational Gap and a More Ecumenical Future? References Chapter 4: The Scourge of Fake News (Aka Propaganda Winning the War on Truth) Cynicism for Sale: Dictators Welcome The Algorithm Fake News: An Old Story? Fighting Media Bias and Restoring Truth References Chapter 5: Educating Intolerance and Commodifying Knowledge: Schools in the Culture Wars’ Firing Line The Culture Wars Return to the Library Dangerous Liaisons: The Dangers of the Knowledge as Dangerous Discourse Neoliberalism, Neopopulism and the Instrumentalization of Knowledge Neopopulism: Privatization and Privation Extrication of Civics Education from Schools Challenging These Trends across the Curriculum References Chapter 6: Higher Education under Attack on Multiple Fronts: Neoliberalism, Neopopulism and the Cloistering of Knowledge The Ivory Tower under Attack Democracy and Higher Education Neoliberalism and the Shuttering of Debate: The Commodification of Knowledge Neopopulism and the Push to Undermine and Sculpt the Very Nature of Higher Education The Future of Higher Education in the Epistemological Miasma Educators as Public Intellectuals References Chapter 7: Representatives of the Political Subject in Popular Culture: Cultivating Cynicism through Our Heroes and Villains The Backlash Cultural Pedagogy Key Themes The American Dream on Steroids Money, Money, Money, Money (Except for the Poor) Stupid Is as Stupid Does: Anti-Intellectualism in Our Heroes Government: Good for Absolutely Nothing, Say It Again! Putting It All Together: Taylor Sheridan’s World Submissiveness before Fate What Is to Be Done? References Chapter 8: Corporate Hegemony and the Struggle to Control the American Mind The Less than Subtle Art of Giving a F**K Behind the Curtain Monopoly to Deity: The Transformation of the Corporation over the Past 50 Years The Intellectual Argument for Shareholder-Driven Capitalism Corporate Personhood: The Rights without the Obligations of Citizenship Kochland: The Corporate Takeover of Government Greed for Lack of a Better Word Is Good The Corporate Manipulation of Public Policy The Spectacle: Selling Unhappiness Taking on Corporate Hegemony References Chapter 9: Contesting Cynicism and Restoring Hope A Better World? A Radical Democracy of, by and for the People Hope Springs Eternal References Index