ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book shows that educational policy today has been greatly shaped by two complementary practices neoliberalism and terrorism. It discusses some of the problems resulting from the coming together of neoliberalism, education, and terrorism, and examines ways to build a future for education and democratic culture that avoid them. The neoliberal there is no alternative (TINA) thesis promotes what might be called an anti-politics by suggesting that alternative political ideologies are impossible and the only role for politics is to manage markets. The Urban Portfolio Model of school reform brings together multiple aspects of neoliberal privatization with creative destruction. Higher education now more than ever must be viewed as central to any viable notion of politics.
