ABSTRACT
One of the important insights of the neo-Marxist phase of the new sociology of education was that the reproductive effects of schooling derived partly from the articulations between cultural forms and contents across different sites and practices within the social formation. The cultural traditions of British academic life make the forging of such a connection particularly difficult, as do those of some of the political movements of the left. The analyses of curricular policy and practice carried out by sociologists over the past decade, which make the dangers of traditional social democratic policies abundantly clear, have clearly not made the necessary impact either amongst the leadership of the Labour Party or amongst the large numbers of parents of all classes who are persuaded that the Conservative analysis is the correct one. The responsibility of the whole of the left in the years ahead is to develop and fight for policies.
