ABSTRACT
I began writing this chapter after two recent books on which I had worked for a number of years were completed. One of the books, Cultural Politics and Education (Apple, 1996a), was the most recent of an entire series of books that sought to answer some `simple questions': Whose knowledge is taught? Why? Whose knowledge is not taught? Why? What is the relationship between culture and power in education? Who benefits from this relationship?1 Cultural Politics and Education focused on what I think are the most powerful social movements redefining education todayÐwhat I call the conservative restoration. It employed the questions I noted above to critically interrogate conservative proposals for national curriculum, national testing, creating a closer connection between schooling and the economy, and `choice plans'. It unpacked their economic, ideological, and political assumptions and argued that the ultimate results of such plans will be a society that is considerably more stratified, less equal, and less just.
