Capitalism, not technology, limits what schools can reform.

Evidence

The thrust of many modern critics of capitalism is not merely to berate the operation of its economic institutions per se, but to argue that educa­ tion and state policy are relatively powerless to rectify social problems within the framework of a capitalist economy. The liberal position is, of course, that insofar as any reform is possible, it is possible within the present system, and can be achieved through enlightened social policy. The only constraints, it argues, are those dictated by technology and human nature in any materially productive society and, therefore, are common to any advanced economic system. … We take our stand with the critics. In this book, we shall focus our analysis on the educational system, maintaining that the range of effective educational policy in the United States is severely limited by the role of schooling in the production of an adequate labor force in a hierarchically controlled and class-stratified production system. Capitalism, not technol­ ogy or human nature, is the limiting factor. — Samuel Bowles and Herbert Gintis, Schooling in Capitalist America, 289

Categorization

• DEFINE: The book’s central thesis stated: capitalism is the binding constraint, not technology or human nature.
• recurring: this claim recurs 2 times within its source
• XREF: connects to: Schooling can breed workers unwilling to accept workplace subordination; Technology itself is neutral; harmful outcomes stem from power relations, not technical necessity. — Samuel Bowles and Herbert Gintis, Schooling in Capitalist America:…, 262; Progressive school reforms failed because their goals contradict under corporate capitalism — Samuel Bowles and Herbert Gintis, Schooling in Capitalist America:…, 547 (+6 more)

Broader Connections

• Progressive school reforms failed because their goals contradict under corporate capitalism #corroborates (0.92) — Samuel Bowles and Herbert Gintis, Schooling in Capitalist America, 547
• Capitalist-class objectives, not reformer ideals, have actually shaped US schooling #expands (0.88) — Samuel Bowles and Herbert Gintis, Schooling in Capitalist America, 569
• US schooling founders aimed at social control amid capitalist inequality, not equality #corroborates (0.85) — Samuel Bowles and Herbert Gintis, Schooling in Capitalist America, 363
• Early education reformers aimed to defuse class conflict without redistributing wealth #corroborates (0.82)
• Repression stems from economic power structure, not from schooling #contradicts (0.75) — Samuel Bowles and Herbert Gintis, Schooling in Capitalist America, 571