Mary Hamilton’s research while affiliated with Lancaster University and other places

Introduction This book arose from a seminar presented at the European Conference on Educational Research (ECER) in September 2017. The seminar itself was prompted by a concern that although there was much discussion and many publications that critiqued neoliberalism, very few actually suggested how its impacts might be resisted. The seminar generated a lot of interest and so we felt that it was important to bring together ideas from across the spectrum of education into a book. In one of his last books, Pedagogy of indignation, Freire (2004:110) argues that neoliberalism is a deeply fatalistic discourse that ‘speaks about the death of dreams and utopia and deproblematizes the future’. He reminds us that one of the key roles of critical intellectuals is to re-problematise the social reality of the present and to foster critical awareness of alternatives (see Roberts, 2005). Our aim here, therefore, is to offer positive examples of resistance to neoliberal education from across sectors and geographical contexts, and to show how these enable neoliberalism to be challenged and changed. In this introduction, we discuss what we mean by ‘neoliberalism’ and ‘resistance’, and go on to show how this book can provide ‘resources of hope’ (Williams, 1989) in troubled times. Neoliberalism in education We understand the defining features of neoliberalism to be a system within an institutional framework characterised by strong private property rights, free markets and free trade that involves deregulation, privatisation and the withdrawal of the state from many areas of social provision (Harvey, 2005). In education, this leads to a competitive market approach within which educational goods (such as qualifications, curricula, institutional reputation, expert labour) are branded and exchanged in an international arena (Rizvi and Lingard, 2010). This approach prioritises individualisation of achievement and competition rather than collaboration among practitioners and among students. It creates a low-trust environment where professionals (and students) have to be monitored and assessed by external yardsticks. The result is that efficiency and monetised values are prioritised over other pedagogical and social values, such as diversity, equity, well-being and care. Under neoliberalism, education systems have been mandated to develop efficient, creative and problem-solving learners and workers for a globally competitive economy, leading to the neglect of its social and developmental responsibilities (Olssen, 2009).

The aim of this book, as explained in the Introduction, is to demonstrate not only the urgent challenges from neoliberalism facing educationalists, but also a range of positive responses to these challenges. We have taken Raymond Williams (1989) notion of ‘resources of hope’ to draw together the rich variety of responses offered by contributors to the book and to identify what Milana and Rapanà call ‘interstices for resistance’ – points where it is possible to intervene to disrupt the dominant neoliberal regime and to help emergent, more emancipatory, cultures to take root. The notion of hope is explicitly referred to by several contributors as central to affirming identity and emboldening action....

This book arose from a seminar presented at the European Conference on Educational Research (ECER) in September 2017. The seminar itself was prompted by a concern that although there was much discussion and many publications that critiqued neoliberalism, very few actually suggested how its impacts might be resisted. The seminar generated a lot of interest and so we felt that it was important to bring together ideas from across the spectrum of education into a book....

The aim of this book, as explained in the Introduction, is to demonstrate not only the urgent challenges from neoliberalism facing educationalists, but also a range of positive responses to these challenges. We have taken Raymond Williams (1989) notion of ‘resources of hope’ to draw together the rich variety of responses offered by contributors to the book and to identify what Milana and Rapanà call ‘interstices for resistance’ – points where it is possible to intervene to disrupt the dominant neoliberal regime and to help emergent, more emancipatory, cultures to take root. The notion of hope is explicitly referred to by several contributors as central to affirming identity and emboldening action. Some of these resources are directly relevant to educational practitioners, suggesting strategies that can be used in teaching or other aspects of institutional practice. Some are resources that can guide educational researchers in designing and carrying out ‘resistant’ research that foregrounds alternatives to neoliberal values. Some are principles and rules of thumb that can be used in both practice and research. Many involve collaboration with others, with the aim of pooling resources and widening the spaces for action. Such collaborations can be formalised through organised public events and networks, but the contributors to this book also assert the value of persisting with what may seem like mundane, everyday, acts of resistance that are based on seeing and seizing opportunities to do and say things differently. Such acts are, they argue, the bedrock for fostering wider change. In the following, we identify ten key ideas gathered from across the chapters that contribute to such changes: • 1. Many chapters make the point that a core aspect of resistance in a difficult or hostile environment is to find ways to create dialogic, emancipatory spaces that are affirming, positive and culturally sensitive for those participating in them. Identifying and forcing open such spaces requires sustained effort and strong commitment. In practice, this can be done via pedagogy and curriculum (Desai et al), and making opportunities for the professional exchange of experiences, opinions, learning, collective action and mutual aid (as in Quinn and Bates, with their Radical Librarians Collective, and Hursh et al's parents and teachers in the opt-out movement in the US).

Neoliberalism has been widely criticised because of its role in prioritising ‘free markets’ as the optimum way of solving problems and organising society. In the field of education, this leads to an emphasis on the knowledge economy that can reduce both persons and education to economic actors and be detrimental to wider social and ethical goals. Drawing on a range of international contexts across informal, adult, school and university settings, this book provides innovative examples that show how neoliberalism in education can be challenged and changed at the local, national and transnational levels in order to foster a more democratic culture.