ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book discusses a number of perspectives that Marxist political economists have used to make sense of the crisis. It talks about capitalism and that the future of schooling will in part be determined by how capitalism resolves its crisis. The book provides more 'mid-range' analysis that places developments in schooling within the broader narrative of Britain's post-war political economy. It suggests that the broad, interdisciplinary field of British cultural studies has, since the 1950s, provided a resource for teachers charged with making sense of the lives of young people in schools. The book also suggests that the purposes of education pay little attention to the way that economic growth and education for human capitalism has depended on the use and exploitation of nature and the environment.
