Cornerstone of the Commons: Building equity through new-public spaces for the education and care of the very young

Abstract

Whereas universal public access to early childhood education and care has long occupied a prominent place in feminist demands to end patriarchy, not only has such access gone largely unmet in most countries, save some noteworthy exceptions, but privatized childcare and early education has only gained momentum through neoliberalism, a process that has been steadily privileging the few, not the many. It has hit southern European countries such as Spain hard, especially after additional crisis-related restrictions were imposed on public spending in education and other sectors in 2012. Who, then, does the neoliberal agenda for early education actually serve? Pedagogically speaking, such discriminatory provision can hardly benefit the great majority of children it is supposed to serve, if we take the 1989 United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child as a guide. On the contrary, its purpose is more likely to select and mold youth in inequitable ways that benefit school investors, proprietors or other economic players, more than the children themselves. And, as numerous scholars assert, corporative elite interests behind the commodification of social provision exert increasing control over the decisions made not only in education but in all areas of political economy and social organization.So how might we begin to counter this “business as usual” of our times? An important starting point involves developing robust and creative collective support for attending to and educating the youngest members of society. Their right to equitable education and accessible, optimal, public care is envisioned and explored here from a critical intersectional perspective as one of the essential building blocks of the Commons. Some inspiring initiatives in this regard will be identified around the globe, their key ideological and organizational tenets laid out, and their implications for forging transformative projects elsewhere discussed.