The Gold and the Dross

Althusser for Educators
Erscheinungsjahr 2019
ISBN: 978-90-04-39125-3
Verlag: Brill

Buch, Englisch, Band 1, 82 Seiten, Format (B × H): 157 mm x 241 mm, Gewicht: 295 g

Reihe: Brill Guides to Scholarship in Education

In the last decade, there has been an international resurgence of interest in the philosophy of Louis Althusser. New essays, journalism, collections, secondary literature, and even manuscripts by Althusser himself are emerging, speaking in fresh ways to audiences of theorists and activists. Althusser is especially important in educational thought, as he famously claimed that school is the most impactful ideological state apparatus in modern society. This insight inspired a generation of educational researchers, but Althusser’s philosophy—unique in a number of ways, one of which was its emphasis on education—largely lost popularity.

Despite this resurgence of interest, and while Althusser’s philosophy is important for educators and activists to know about, it remains difficult to understand. The Gold and the Dross: Althusser for Educators, with succinct prose and a creative organization, introduces readers to Althusser’s thinking. Intended for those who have never encountered Althusser’s theory before, and even those who are new to philosophy and critical theory in general, the book elaborates the basic tenets of Althusser’s philosophy using examples and personal stories juxtaposed with selected passages of Althusser’s writing. Starting with a beginner’s guide to interpellation and Althusser’s concept of ideology, the book continues by elaborating the epistemology and ontology Althusser produced, and concludes with his concepts of society and science. The Gold and the Dross makes Althusser’s philosophy more available to contemporary audiences of educators and activists.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Backer, David I

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politische Ideologien Marxismus, Kommunismus
• Sozialwissenschaften Pädagogik Pädagogik Affektive, soziale und ethische Ziele in der Erziehung
• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Geschichte der Westlichen Philosophie Westliche Philosophie: 20./21. Jahrhundert
• Sozialwissenschaften Pädagogik Pädagogik Philosophie der Erziehung, Bildungstheorie
• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Soziologie Allgemein Gesellschaftstheorie

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Acknowledgements

Introduction

General Plan and Purpose of This Book

Althusser’s Context

Althusser’s Life

Author’s Context

Note on Passages

1 A Beginner’s Guide to Interpellation

Getting in Trouble

At School

Get with the Program

Not Anything Impactful

I Don’t Remember What I Learned in School

Testing

Where Did My Friends Go?

Falling in Love

Is Interpellation Passive?

Ideology = Imagined Relations to Real Conditions

Wings

Race and Gender

Reproduction

Consent

Individuality

Images

Being Guided

Interpellation Machine

Intersectionality

Counter-Interpellation

A Grain of Sand

Hut

A Play

Our Society: Capitalism and Democracy

2 The Law of Dislocation

Concrete-Real vs. Concrete-in-Thought

Snakes, Ropes, and Concepts

The Gold and the Dross

Straying from Dislocation: Empiricism and Surplus Value

Petty, Laplace, and Capital Vol. 1

Leaves, Monads, and Other Simple Internal Essences

Shades of Hegel

Expressivism: (Dig Here)

Human Nature

Concepts behind ‘Words’

A Theory of Reading: Listening to Silence

3 The Law of Uneven Development

Every Thing Is a Mess

The dsa

Theory of Combination

Theory of Formation

Theory of Relative Autonomy

Theory of Determination

The Wrong Side of History

Acorns

Teleology on the Train

Concepts of Structure: Captain Planet vs. Voltron

The Two Laws: Three Reflections

4 Theory of Social Formations

Geology as Analogy for Society

Forces, Elements, and Variations in Society: Overview

Economic Region

Ideological Region

Culture and Agency

Repressive Region

Thanksgiving

The Three Social Forces: Productive, Reproductive, Repressive

The Hut and the Theater

Naked Capitalism

Home Ownership

Freedom

An Allegory for Social Structure

In the Last Instance: Theory of Moveable Types

5 Conclusion: Ideology, Truth, Science

Ambivalence

Truth as Correctness

Gold

Science as Sweet Science

Afterword: Studying the Dross

Tyson E. Lewis

References

Index

Über Autor(innen)

David I. Backer, West Chester University of Pennsylvania, is an assistant professor of Social and Cultural Foundations of Education. His work on school in its social context can be found in Harvard Educational Review, Educational Theory, Issues in Teacher Education and elsewhere. Based in Philadelphia, he is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America.