Book review: Marxist Essays on Neoliberalism, Class, ‘Race’, Capitalism and Education, by Dave Hill

Abstract

Dave Hill Marxist Essays on Neoliberalism, Class, 'Race', Capitalism and Education, Institute for Education Policy Studies, Brighton, 2013; 204 pp.; 9780952204220, 15 [pounds sterling]. This small volume is a compilation of seven essays authored or co-authored by the British classical Marxist scholar/activist Dave Hill. Most were published in the Journal for Critical Education Policy Studies, of which he is the chief editor. Central to Hill's arguments is the need to return to a Marxist analysis of capital-labour relations as it pertains to the study of education in the UK and abroad (p. 7). Far too often, Hill argues, scholars of education deny a Marxist class analysis, substituting in its place an understanding of class as an effect of culture, or else a Weberian 'market situation' definition of class (p. 35). He also critiques 'parallelist' and 'tryptarch' models of inequality that equate class, gender and race. Hill argues that these analyses conceal labour relations and material inequalities within (p. 144). Hill contends that in order to understand the neoliberal restructuring of schools and pedagogy, one must understand the Marxist critique that education is inherently tied to existing political and economic structures. Because the articles were originally published separately and make similar arguments, the chapters can seem a bit repetitive. That being said, there are two articles worth noting. Hill's fifth chapter, 'Globalisation and its educational discontents: Neoliberalism and its impacts on education workers' rights, pay and conditions', serves to contextualize some of the Marxist critiques of education under capitalism. Hill identifies 'Three educational plans of capital' (pp. 116-7): (1) 'Produce and reproduce a work force, citizenry and set of consumers fit for capital'; (2) 'Smooth the way for direct profit-taking/profiteering from education'; (3) Increase privatization of schools and support industries, and increase investment by multinational corporations and 'Edu-businesses'. He argues that one can contextualise these 'plans' through a Marxist analysis of capital-labour relations: under neoliberalism, education is mirroring other 'service industries' which support, amplify and sustain the extraction of surplus value. In the seventh chapter, 'Immiseradon capitalism, activism and education: Resistance, revolt and revenge', Hill identifies sixteen ways in which neoliberalism and austerity capitalism have restructured schools and education (pp. 172-4): 1. The privatisation/pre-privatisation of schooling, such as the development of charter schools. …