ABSTRACT
From the natural world to the social world, the commons appear everywhere in peril. The all-encompassing drive for profit and endless commodification is despoiling the shared basis of life on the planet, and as a set of global crises widen and deepen, demands for authentic democracy and community become the minimal demands for the survival of humanity. Like the commons, the very idea of democratic education is everywhere under assault. Within public schooling, this takes the form of for-profit educational management, charters, vouchers, standardization of curriculum, high-stakes testing and the integration of corporate managerialism into the fabric of teacher education, educational leadership, and schools themselves. Schooling is a key site in present struggles over the commons as it represents a shared resource of democratic potentiality. Progressive approaches neglect the conceptual and political unraveling of the authority and autonomy of the so-called “center” that is implied by a global perspective.
