Mark Olssen | University of Surrey (original) (raw)
Mark Olssen, FAcSS, is Emeritus Professor of Political Theory and Education Policy in the Department of Politics at the University of Surrey. His most recent books are Liberalism, Neoliberalism, Social Democracy: thin communitarian perspectives on political philosophy and education, Routledge, New York and London, 2010; Toward A Global Thin Community: Nietzsche, Foucault, and the Cosmopolitan Commitment, Paradigm Press, Boulder and London, published 2009. He is also co-author (with John Codd and Anne-Marie O'Neill) of Education Policy: Globalisation, Citizenship, Democracy, (Sage, London, 2004) and author of Michel Foucault: Materialism and Education, Greenwood Press, New York, 1999/Paradigm Press, Boulder, 2006. He has also published many book chapters and articles in academic journals in Britain, America and in Australasia. Most recently, an interview by Raaper, Rille, titled, ‘Mark Olssen on the neoliberalisation of higher education and academic lives: an interview,' Policy Futures in Education, 14(2), pp. 147 -163 (February, 2016), and ‘Neoliberalism and Higher Education Today: research, accountability and impact'. British Journal of Sociology of Education, Vol. 37, (1), pp. 129 - 148 (January 2016).
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En el cada vegada mes extens univers dels estudis elaborats en educaciu sota la influencia de l&#... more En el cada vegada mes extens univers dels estudis elaborats en educaciu sota la influencia de l'obra de Michel Foucault, el llibre de Mark Olssen conte una diferencia digna de ser apreciada. No intenta traiar una aproximaciu mes a la instituciu escolar com a dispositiu . Tampoc preten obrir un nou domini on aplicar l'analisi genealogica. El llibre que es presenta no se situa en estos honrosos filons foucaultians. El que oferix Olssen es un exemplar desplegament del mode de recepciu de l'obra de Foucault que opera en eixa difusa i plural fracciu del medi educatiu anglosaxu (Cleo Cherryholmes, Henry Giroux, Jennifer Gore, Michael Peters, James Marshall...) que, amb saludable actitud de reflexivitat indisciplinada, s'ha conformat davall el proposit d'obrir la tradiciu de la teoria critica de l'educaciu i la societat a les noves ferramentes conceptuals, les preguntes i les troballes proporcionades per la linia de pensament que academicament identifica amb l'e...
Olssen, Mark (2015) ‘Ascertaining the Normative Implications of Complexity for Politics: Beyond Agent-Based Modeling’, in Emilian Kavalski (ed.) (2015) World Politics at the Edge of Chaos: Reflections on Complexity and Global Life. SUNY Press, New York, pp. 139 – 168., 2015
Central to representing the world as a complex dynamical system is understanding it as pertaining... more Central to representing the world as a complex dynamical system is understanding it as pertaining to an interdisciplinary approach to nonlinear processes of change in both nature and society. Although complexity research takes its origins from its applications in physics, chemistry, mathematics, and the "hard" sciences, undergoing its formative development in the 1970s, during the last two decades it has exerted an effect on the social sciences as well. Today complexity research is generating what Stuart Kauffman (2008, Preface) calls a "quiet revolution" in both the physical and social sciences. One of the earliest centers for complexity research was at Santa Fe, where researchers developed the first research program with application to politics based on agent-based modeling.
Globalisation, Comparative Education and Policy Research, 2020
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this p... more The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
Constructing Foucault’s ethics, 2021
A Companion to Research in Teacher Education, 2017
Although complexity research takes its origins from its applications in physics, chemistry and ma... more Although complexity research takes its origins from its applications in physics, chemistry and mathematics and the ‘hard’ sciences, undergoing its formative development in the early and mid-twentieth century, during the second half of the twentieth century it has exerted an effect on the social sciences as well.
Congress and the Nation 2013-2016, Volume XIV: Politics and Policy in the 113th and 114th Congresses, 2020
Mainstream understandings of how policy making occurs in a democracy arose out of the dominant in... more Mainstream understandings of how policy making occurs in a democracy arose out of the dominant intellectual traditions of the social sciences. In the first half of the twentieth century general academic perspectives such as structural functionalist sociology and general systems theory were applied to educational problems. Functional explanations of education were strongly influenced by the ideas of writers like Emile Durkheim (1858-1917), who argued that education systems exist for the purpose of socialisation, that is to nurture and develop in individuals those abilities and capacities necessary for the maintenance of society, and the American sociologist, Talcott Parsons whose work represents an attempt to combine both ‘holistic’ and ‘individualistic’ theories of social action inspired by Durkheim and Weber respectively.
Central to representing the world as a complex dynamical system is understanding it as pertaining... more Central to representing the world as a complex dynamical system is understanding it as pertaining to an interdisciplinary approach to nonlinear processes of change in both nature and society. Although complexity research takes its origins from its applications in physics, chemistry, mathematics, and the “hard” sciences, undergoing its formative development in the 1970s, during the last two decades it has exerted an effect on the social sciences as well. Today complexity research is generating what Stuart Kauffman (2008, Preface) calls a “quiet revolution” in both the physical and social sciences.
Although this paper constitutes a revision of a paper originally published in 2007 [see note 1), ... more Although this paper constitutes a revision of a paper originally published in 2007 [see note 1), the editors are pleased to republish this paper due to its theoretical importance for the critique of Marxism as well the interest it creates for establishing the possibility of a new political economy based upon the work of Michel Foucault. The paper documents and interrogates the contradictions between postmodernism and poststructuralism with Marxism. Starting by documenting the crisis of the Left at the start of the twenty-first century, an attempt is made to radically critique and reappraise Marxism in a direction set out by Foucault. The paper is not so much an attempt to meld Marxism and poststructuralism but rather to generate a new poststructuralist historical materialism which still has equality and fairness as its central concerns, but which goes beyond the traditional problems of Marxism based on its adherence to outmoded methodologies and theoretical modes of analysis. Echoin...
A Companion to Wittgenstein on Education, 2017
Marshall (1995) once argued that Wittgenstein’s social constructivist view of mathematics is not ... more Marshall (1995) once argued that Wittgenstein’s social constructivist view of mathematics is not ‘idealistic’, ‘relativistic’ or ‘subjectivistic’ but rather is ‘non-idealistic and objective’. Wittgenstein is not idealistic because he attacks the prioritizing of mental states over linguistic accompaniments of those internal states. What he emphasizes is not intuition or mental process but the use of language . This, says Marshall , is an objective criterion, for although mathematics is ‘invented’ rather than ‘discovered’, the manner of its invention is in the form of discursive construction and in this sense it is independent of the individuals who use it as are the criteria of the truth and falsity of its propositions . It is thus non-foundational in the Russellian/Fregian senses. Rather, its objectivity is guaranteed by understanding mathematical objects within a formal language system. Truth in this sense depends on correct derivation in terms of the rule structure of the ‘language game’ relative to a ‘form of life’. Truth is thus ‘internal to a scheme’. In this article, I compare Wittgenstein to Foucault with respect to the issues of idealism , scepticism and language to highlight some of the main issues which seem to me central to any serious consideration of the limits and possibilities of social constructivism. These relate to (1) the central differences between radical constructivism and social constructionism, and (2) the extent to which the problem of relativism is overcome by Wittgenstein and Foucault making comparisons between the two thinkers. In completing these tasks, I will also consider some of the contributions of Foucault to the constructionist debate.
What should the purposes of education be in a liberal and multi-cultural society? Is there a tens... more What should the purposes of education be in a liberal and multi-cultural society? Is there a tension between liberalism and multi-culturalism? Or between liberalism’s commitment to autonomy and the social diversity characteristic of multi-cultural societies? Does multi-culturalism affect liberalism as a traditional historical discourse, and if so how? In his book Bridging Liberalism and Multiculturalism in American Education, Reich links both political and educational theory to seek to answer these questions. He aims to construct a version of liberalism, which respects and is consistent with multi-cultural theory, based on a conception of ‘minimalist autonomy’. His case comprises three main strategies, which can be summarized as follows. (1) Liberalism is not neutral discourse. Against Rawls, who with the major writers in the liberal tradition, claims that liberalism was neutral with respect to diverse conceptions of the good life, Reich argues that the neutrality of the state in a ...
Policy Futures in Education, 2021
Neoliberal policy reforms have had a marked influence on nearly every aspect of education, includ... more Neoliberal policy reforms have had a marked influence on nearly every aspect of education, including the enrolment practices employed by institutions, teaching and assessment practices, and even the outcomes for students and society. There is a widespread expectation that teachers should contribute to quality outcomes for students along with their moral/ethical development and character formation while at the same time behaving ethically in the currently challenging environment of the education sector, including the Vocational Education and Training (VET) sector. However, this apparent pressure for maintaining quality education while simultaneously conforming to the ethicality of professional practices in the context of rapid policy changes of a neoliberal sort masks considerable controversy around the meaning of quality education with respect to both moral/ethical behaviour in education and the appropriate forms of practice that would constitute this area of education. A recent res...
En el cada vegada mes extens univers dels estudis elaborats en educaciu sota la influencia de l&#... more En el cada vegada mes extens univers dels estudis elaborats en educaciu sota la influencia de l'obra de Michel Foucault, el llibre de Mark Olssen conte una diferencia digna de ser apreciada. No intenta traiar una aproximaciu mes a la instituciu escolar com a dispositiu . Tampoc preten obrir un nou domini on aplicar l'analisi genealogica. El llibre que es presenta no se situa en estos honrosos filons foucaultians. El que oferix Olssen es un exemplar desplegament del mode de recepciu de l'obra de Foucault que opera en eixa difusa i plural fracciu del medi educatiu anglosaxu (Cleo Cherryholmes, Henry Giroux, Jennifer Gore, Michael Peters, James Marshall...) que, amb saludable actitud de reflexivitat indisciplinada, s'ha conformat davall el proposit d'obrir la tradiciu de la teoria critica de l'educaciu i la societat a les noves ferramentes conceptuals, les preguntes i les troballes proporcionades per la linia de pensament que academicament identifica amb l'e...
Olssen, Mark (2015) ‘Ascertaining the Normative Implications of Complexity for Politics: Beyond Agent-Based Modeling’, in Emilian Kavalski (ed.) (2015) World Politics at the Edge of Chaos: Reflections on Complexity and Global Life. SUNY Press, New York, pp. 139 – 168., 2015
Central to representing the world as a complex dynamical system is understanding it as pertaining... more Central to representing the world as a complex dynamical system is understanding it as pertaining to an interdisciplinary approach to nonlinear processes of change in both nature and society. Although complexity research takes its origins from its applications in physics, chemistry, mathematics, and the "hard" sciences, undergoing its formative development in the 1970s, during the last two decades it has exerted an effect on the social sciences as well. Today complexity research is generating what Stuart Kauffman (2008, Preface) calls a "quiet revolution" in both the physical and social sciences. One of the earliest centers for complexity research was at Santa Fe, where researchers developed the first research program with application to politics based on agent-based modeling.
Globalisation, Comparative Education and Policy Research, 2020
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this p... more The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
Constructing Foucault’s ethics, 2021
A Companion to Research in Teacher Education, 2017
Although complexity research takes its origins from its applications in physics, chemistry and ma... more Although complexity research takes its origins from its applications in physics, chemistry and mathematics and the ‘hard’ sciences, undergoing its formative development in the early and mid-twentieth century, during the second half of the twentieth century it has exerted an effect on the social sciences as well.
Congress and the Nation 2013-2016, Volume XIV: Politics and Policy in the 113th and 114th Congresses, 2020
Mainstream understandings of how policy making occurs in a democracy arose out of the dominant in... more Mainstream understandings of how policy making occurs in a democracy arose out of the dominant intellectual traditions of the social sciences. In the first half of the twentieth century general academic perspectives such as structural functionalist sociology and general systems theory were applied to educational problems. Functional explanations of education were strongly influenced by the ideas of writers like Emile Durkheim (1858-1917), who argued that education systems exist for the purpose of socialisation, that is to nurture and develop in individuals those abilities and capacities necessary for the maintenance of society, and the American sociologist, Talcott Parsons whose work represents an attempt to combine both ‘holistic’ and ‘individualistic’ theories of social action inspired by Durkheim and Weber respectively.
Central to representing the world as a complex dynamical system is understanding it as pertaining... more Central to representing the world as a complex dynamical system is understanding it as pertaining to an interdisciplinary approach to nonlinear processes of change in both nature and society. Although complexity research takes its origins from its applications in physics, chemistry, mathematics, and the “hard” sciences, undergoing its formative development in the 1970s, during the last two decades it has exerted an effect on the social sciences as well. Today complexity research is generating what Stuart Kauffman (2008, Preface) calls a “quiet revolution” in both the physical and social sciences.
Although this paper constitutes a revision of a paper originally published in 2007 [see note 1), ... more Although this paper constitutes a revision of a paper originally published in 2007 [see note 1), the editors are pleased to republish this paper due to its theoretical importance for the critique of Marxism as well the interest it creates for establishing the possibility of a new political economy based upon the work of Michel Foucault. The paper documents and interrogates the contradictions between postmodernism and poststructuralism with Marxism. Starting by documenting the crisis of the Left at the start of the twenty-first century, an attempt is made to radically critique and reappraise Marxism in a direction set out by Foucault. The paper is not so much an attempt to meld Marxism and poststructuralism but rather to generate a new poststructuralist historical materialism which still has equality and fairness as its central concerns, but which goes beyond the traditional problems of Marxism based on its adherence to outmoded methodologies and theoretical modes of analysis. Echoin...
A Companion to Wittgenstein on Education, 2017
Marshall (1995) once argued that Wittgenstein’s social constructivist view of mathematics is not ... more Marshall (1995) once argued that Wittgenstein’s social constructivist view of mathematics is not ‘idealistic’, ‘relativistic’ or ‘subjectivistic’ but rather is ‘non-idealistic and objective’. Wittgenstein is not idealistic because he attacks the prioritizing of mental states over linguistic accompaniments of those internal states. What he emphasizes is not intuition or mental process but the use of language . This, says Marshall , is an objective criterion, for although mathematics is ‘invented’ rather than ‘discovered’, the manner of its invention is in the form of discursive construction and in this sense it is independent of the individuals who use it as are the criteria of the truth and falsity of its propositions . It is thus non-foundational in the Russellian/Fregian senses. Rather, its objectivity is guaranteed by understanding mathematical objects within a formal language system. Truth in this sense depends on correct derivation in terms of the rule structure of the ‘language game’ relative to a ‘form of life’. Truth is thus ‘internal to a scheme’. In this article, I compare Wittgenstein to Foucault with respect to the issues of idealism , scepticism and language to highlight some of the main issues which seem to me central to any serious consideration of the limits and possibilities of social constructivism. These relate to (1) the central differences between radical constructivism and social constructionism, and (2) the extent to which the problem of relativism is overcome by Wittgenstein and Foucault making comparisons between the two thinkers. In completing these tasks, I will also consider some of the contributions of Foucault to the constructionist debate.
What should the purposes of education be in a liberal and multi-cultural society? Is there a tens... more What should the purposes of education be in a liberal and multi-cultural society? Is there a tension between liberalism and multi-culturalism? Or between liberalism’s commitment to autonomy and the social diversity characteristic of multi-cultural societies? Does multi-culturalism affect liberalism as a traditional historical discourse, and if so how? In his book Bridging Liberalism and Multiculturalism in American Education, Reich links both political and educational theory to seek to answer these questions. He aims to construct a version of liberalism, which respects and is consistent with multi-cultural theory, based on a conception of ‘minimalist autonomy’. His case comprises three main strategies, which can be summarized as follows. (1) Liberalism is not neutral discourse. Against Rawls, who with the major writers in the liberal tradition, claims that liberalism was neutral with respect to diverse conceptions of the good life, Reich argues that the neutrality of the state in a ...
Policy Futures in Education, 2021
Neoliberal policy reforms have had a marked influence on nearly every aspect of education, includ... more Neoliberal policy reforms have had a marked influence on nearly every aspect of education, including the enrolment practices employed by institutions, teaching and assessment practices, and even the outcomes for students and society. There is a widespread expectation that teachers should contribute to quality outcomes for students along with their moral/ethical development and character formation while at the same time behaving ethically in the currently challenging environment of the education sector, including the Vocational Education and Training (VET) sector. However, this apparent pressure for maintaining quality education while simultaneously conforming to the ethicality of professional practices in the context of rapid policy changes of a neoliberal sort masks considerable controversy around the meaning of quality education with respect to both moral/ethical behaviour in education and the appropriate forms of practice that would constitute this area of education. A recent res...