Marx, Capital, and Education

The authors boldly investigate the movement toward communism and the essential role that critical pedagogy can play in this transition. Performing a novel and educational reading of Karl Marx and radical theorists and activists, Malott and Ford present a critical understanding of the past and present, of the underlying logics and (often opaque) forces that determine the world-historical moment.

Curry Stephenson Malott (PhD in curriculum and instruction, New Mexico State University) is Assistant Professor of Educational Foundations in the Department of Professional and Secondary Education at West Chester University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Malott is a regular contributor to the Derek R. Ford’s (PhD candidate in cultural foundations of education, Syracuse University) professional writing has appeared in and He currently teaches in the Social Justice Studies Program at Hobart and William Smith Colleges.

«In , Malott and Ford advance one of the boldest and [most] unmitigated analyses of education in the history of the field. Their unflinching and scholarly critique of the relationship between capitalism and compulsory education helps to reground the field of critical pedagogy, framing a renewed ‘revolutionary Marxist pedagogy.’ Their careful undertaking of Marx and contemporary scholars of Marx situate this text as a must-read across multiple disciplines including philosophy, political science, government, and education – a true classic in the making.» (Sandy Grande, Associate Professor and Chair, Education Department, Connecticut College) «This is an essential text for all of those interested in the continuing potential of Marxism as an analytic tool and as a political movement, with implications for critical pedagogy and a truly liberatory education. It traces the history of the use of Marxist theory in education in ways that are insightful, and it provides a key set of categories for reading and using Marx in a ‘postmodern’ age. A rare achievement in educational scholarship.» (Dennis Carlson, Full Professor, Department of Educational Leadership, Miami University) «This book boldly interrogates the internal contradictions of capital with the aim of galvanizing a critical pedagogy of becoming, a pedagogy capable of providing the conceptual and analytic resources necessary to locate and pry open spaces in education from which to push those contradictions to their breaking point so as to transform capitalism into communism. The authors patiently explain the dialectical logic of capital’s internal contradictions that incline capital towards self-negation, paying particular attention to capital’s compulsive quest for surplus value; they deepen this explanation with an exploration of Marx’s appropriation of dialectics from Hegel. Setting these explanations in motion and keeping capital’s thirst for surplus value firmly in view, Malott and Ford confront and intervene in some of the main debates related to education under capital, including the relation between educational labor and the reproduction of capitalist social relations, and the relation between race and class. This book propels forward the revolutionary struggle for liberation from class society.» (Deborah P. Kelsh, Professor of Teacher Education, The College of Saint Rose) «Malott and Ford point to the horizon of possibilities that open up when Marx is put back into Marxism. Their bold advocacy of critical pedagogy as a self-conscious movement towards communism is a welcome antidote to the bourgeois fluff that has come to pass as ‘critical’ in education for too long. is written by revolutionary educators for revolutionary educators.» (Grant Banfield, Lecturer, Faculty of Education, Humanities and Law, Flinders University, South Australia) «Malott and Ford present a rigorous theoretical framework grounded in the actual practice of communist movement(s). Their approach to educational pedagogy is a must-read for anyone with a radical consciousness seriously concerned with not just interpreting, but changing the world.» (Eugene Puryear, author of Organizer with the ANSWER Coalition) «Malott and Ford in this exceptional work place capitalism ‘squarely within the crosshairs.’ Vague talk concerning issues of social justice is replaced with concrete explorations of our present historical moment within the horizon of communism and educators’ place in moving toward that horizon within a process of a critical pedagogy of becoming. This book will move critical thinkers toward the horizon. It is about time.»

«In , Malott and Ford advance one of the boldest and [most] unmitigated analyses of education in the history of the field. Their unflinching and scholarly critique of the relationship between capitalism and compulsory education helps to reground the field of critical pedagogy, framing a renewed ‘revolutionary Marxist pedagogy.’ Their careful undertaking of Marx and contemporary scholars of Marx situate this text as a must-read across multiple disciplines including philosophy, political science, government, and education – a true classic in the making.» (Sandy Grande, Associate Professor and Chair, Education Department, Connecticut College) «This is an essential text for all of those interested in the continuing potential of Marxism as an analytic tool and as a political movement, with implications for critical pedagogy and a truly liberatory education. It traces the history of the use of Marxist theory in education in ways that are insightful, and it provides a key set of categories for reading and using Marx in a ‘postmodern’ age. A rare achievement in educational scholarship.» (Dennis Carlson, Full Professor, Department of Educational Leadership, Miami University) «This book boldly interrogates the internal contradictions of capital with the aim of galvanizing a critical pedagogy of becoming, a pedagogy capable of providing the conceptual and analytic resources necessary to locate and pry open spaces in education from which to push those contradictions to their breaking point so as to transform capitalism into communism. The authors patiently explain the dialectical logic of capital’s internal contradictions that incline capital towards self-negation, paying particular attention to capital’s compulsive quest for surplus value; they deepen this explanation with an exploration of Marx’s appropriation of dialectics from Hegel. Setting these explanations in motion and keeping capital’s thirst for surplus value firmly in view, Malott and Ford confront and intervene in some of the main debates related to education under capital, including the relation between educational labor and the reproduction of capitalist social relations, and the relation between race and class. This book propels forward the revolutionary struggle for liberation from class society.» (Deborah P. Kelsh, Professor of Teacher Education, The College of Saint Rose) «Malott and Ford point to the horizon of possibilities that open up when Marx is put back into Marxism. Their bold advocacy of critical pedagogy as a self-conscious movement towards communism is a welcome antidote to the bourgeois fluff that has come to pass as ‘critical’ in education for too long. is written by revolutionary educators for revolutionary educators.» (Grant Banfield, Lecturer, Faculty of Education, Humanities and Law, Flinders University, South Australia) «Malott and Ford present a rigorous theoretical framework grounded in the actual practice of communist movement(s). Their approach to educational pedagogy is a must-read for anyone with a radical consciousness seriously concerned with not just interpreting, but changing the world.» (Eugene Puryear, author of Organizer with the ANSWER Coalition) «Malott and Ford in this exceptional work place capitalism ‘squarely within the crosshairs.’ Vague talk concerning issues of social justice is replaced with concrete explorations of our present historical moment within the horizon of communism and educators’ place in moving toward that horizon within a process of a critical pedagogy of becoming. This book will move critical thinkers toward the horizon. It is about time.»

Contents: Becoming through Negation: Revisiting Marx’s Humanism – From Revolution to Counterrevolution and Back Again? The Global Class War and Becoming Communist – Becoming Communist in the Global Class War: Centering the Critique of the Gotha Programme – The «Cynical Recklessness» of Capital: Machinery, Becoming, and Revolutionary Marxist Social Studies Education – Teaching Ferguson, Teaching Capital: Slavery and the «Terrorist Energy» of Capital – Connecting «Economic Bondage« to «Personified Capital»: Another Step toward a Critical Pedagogy of Becoming.