Education and the Public Sphere: Exploring the Structures of Mediation in Post-Colonial India. Routledge Research in International and Comparative Education

"Education and the Public Sphere" conceptually and empirically investigates and unfolds several complexities embedded in the educational system in India by exploring it as a site of transforming the public sphere. Bringing together a range of contributions from education and the social sciences, this volume analyses and reflects on structures in education and how these mediate and transform the public sphere in post-colonial India. Drawing on fresh research, case studies and testimony, this book debates issues such as the crisis in higher education, privatisation and politicisation of education, the reciprocal relationship between marginalisation and education, and the lasting impact that modern pedagogical practices have on the wider world. It critically reflects on the direct engagement of people, institutions, various cultural sensibilities and public debate to animate how these combined structures affect the teaching and learning process. From a unique interdisciplinary perspective, this book initiates an analytical enquiry into teaching and the culture of learning, generating critical discourses on the system as a whole. This book will be vital reading for researchers, scholars and postgraduate students in the field of international education, education theory and social justice education. Titles in the book include: (1) Towards a Destruction of Critical Thinking (Prabhat Patnaik); (2) The Crisis of India's Higher Education (Zoya Hasan); (3) Education as Emancipation: Reading Freedom through Dalit Narratives (Raj Kumar); (4) Between Prohibition of Political Activity and Capture of Political Space: The Predicament of Student Politics in Kerala (Praveena Kodoth); (5) Public and Private Dichotomy: An Empirical Insight into the University Governance in India (Chetan Singai); (6) Publication or Public Action? Discursive Spaces of Disengagements in India (L.N. Venkataraman); (7) Parental Choice for Schools in the Changing Context of the State and Market in India (Pradeep Kumar Choudhury); (8) Privatization and Shrinking Free Space in Indian Higher Education: Challenges for Inclusive Knowledge Society (Narender Thakur and Gaurav J. Pathania); (9) Public Sphere and Educational Policy Transformations in Kerala (Ahammedul Kabeer AP); (10) Can Social Movements Lead to Educational Change? Some Reflections on Case Study of the Adivasi Munnetra Sangam (Amman Madan, Rama Sastry and B. Ramdas); (11) Everyday Violence, Schooling and Mediating Institutions in Northeast India (Jeebanlata Salam); (12) Pedagogic Settings and Pedagogic Deterrence: A Treatise on Tribal Education and Social Exclusion (Babu C. T. Sunil); (13) Silent Public and Speaking Selves: Locating 'Public Sphere' through Classroom Practices (Pranta Pratik Patnaik); (14) Everyday Engagement with Social Issues: Prospects of Liberal Arts and Engineering Students in the Institutions of Higher Learning (Sarvendra Yadav); (15) Researcher, Field and Caste Encounter: Critical Reflections on Fieldwork (Ajay Choudhary); (16) Education, Self and Society: A Contemporary Reading of (Integrated) 'Science of the Absolute' in the Philosophy of Narayana Guru and Nataraja Guru (Shareena Banu C. P.); and (17) Conclusion: Education and the Public Sphere: Conceptions and their Mediations (Suresh Babu G.S.) Cover Half Title Series Page Title Page Copyright Page Table of Contents List of illustrations Acknowledgements Introduction Overview of chapters Note References PART I: Crisis, contestation and possibilities in education 1. Towards a destruction of critical thinking The commoditization of higher education Some clarifications Political control Ranking universities Notes References 2. The crisis of India’s Higher Education Challenges of higher education Undercutting public universities Political control Disregarding social sciences Rewriting history One ideology Trampling academic freedom Notes References 3. Education as emancipation: reading freedom through Dalit narratives Education in India Education as emancipation Hazari’s tryst with education Conclusion References PART II: Mediations in academics: politics, governance and public action 4. Between prohibition of political activity and capture of political space: the predicament of student politics in Kerala Introduction Prohibition of political activity Strategies of control under ‘capture’ Disciplining with gender The predicament of student politics Notes References 5. Public and private dichotomy: an empirical insight into the university governance in India The idea of the public state university Deemed-to-be-universities in India: a conundrum? Methodology Expansion and university governance: insights from the ‘field’ Equity and university governance: insights from the ‘field’ Excellence and university governance: insights from the ‘field’ Note References 6. Publication or public action? Discursive spaces of disengagements in India Collateral damages of the ideological cross-fires: case one Scholarship in the noisy corridors: case two Note References PART III: Public-private borderlines: negotiations in education 7. Parental choice for schools in the changing context of the state and market in India Introduction Data and method Results and discussion Empirical results: probit estimates Conclusion Notes References Appendix 8. Privatization and shrinking free space in Indian higher education: challenges for the inclusive knowledge society De jure privatization in Indian higher education Shrinking free space in Indian campuses Concluding remarks Notes References 9. Public sphere and educational policy transformations in Kerala The evolution of Kerala’s public sphere Factors for the development of education in Kerala References PART IV: Mobilisation for education: critical voices from the margins 10. Can social movements lead to educational change? Some reflections on a case study of the Adivasi Munnetra Sangam Adivasi Munnetra Sangam Educational intervention Possibilities and limitations of movements Lessons for building democratic movements References 11. Everyday violence, schooling and mediating institutions in Northeast India Life under Armed Forces Special Powers Act and its structural effects Education in conflict zones: challenges Civil society as mediating institutions References 12. Pedagogic settings and pedagogic deterrence: a treatise on tribal education and social exclusion Notes from the field Capitals, cultural reproduction and the public sphere Notes References PART V: Teaching and learning: everyday engagement in education and research 13. Silent public and speaking selves: locating ‘public sphere’ through classroom practices Notes References 14. Everyday engagement with social issues: prospects of liberal arts and engineering students in the institutions of higher learning Introduction Research procedure Understanding of social problems Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi (IITD) Delhi University (DU) Harcourt Butler Technological Institute, Kanpur (HBTI) Chhatrapati Shahu Ji Maharaj University, Kanpur (CSJMU) Conclusions Notes References 15. Researcher, field and caste encounter: critical reflections on fieldwork References 16. Education, self and society: a contemporary reading of (integrated) ‘Science of the Absolute’ in the philosophy of Narayana Guru and Nataraja Guru Self, knower and humanity Self, humanity and caste Alternative education, critique and transformation of self Knowledge and consciousness Colonial governmentality, self and education Conclusion Notes References Conclusion: education and the public sphere: conceptions and their mediations Education and the public sphere Education as social metabolism Conclusion Notes References Notes on contributors Index