Liberal arts education is the prerequisite for democratic rule itself
Evidence
Democracy in an era of enormously complex global constellations and powers requires a people who are educated, thoughtful, and democratic in sensibility. This means a people modestly knowing about these constellations and powers; a people with capacities of discernment and judgment in relation to what it reads, watches, or hears about a range of developments in its world; and a people oriented toward common concerns and governing itself. Such knowledge, discernment, and orientation are what a university liberal arts education has long promised and what are now severely challenged by neoliberal rationality inside and outside universities. Contesting this challenge democratically would place us squarely within Rousseau’s paradox: to support good institutions, the people must be antecedently what only good institutions can make them. The survival of liberal arts education depends on broad recognition of its value for democracy. The survival of democracy depends upon a people educated for it, which entails resisting neoliberalization of their institutions and themselves. — Wendy Brown, Undoing the Demos, 397
Categorization
- XREF: Rousseau’s paradox invoked here connects to Brown’s broader argument and to political theory of popular sovereignty vs. institutional preconditions of democracy. — connects to: Democratic liberty and equality cannot survive without an educated public — Wendy Brown, Undoing the Demos: Neoliberalism’s…, 368; Generalizing liberal arts education was a radical democratic event preparing the many for freedom. — Wendy Brown, Undoing the Demos: Neoliberalism’s…, 375; Claims that liberal arts education is outmoded presuppose democracy itself is outmoded — Wendy Brown, Undoing the Demos: Neoliberalism’s…, 383 (+3 more)
Broader Connections
- Schools should educate for civic governance rather than test scores and expertise
#expands(0.85) — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 2686