ABSTRACT
In this chapter we offer a kind of introduction to neo-Marxism in critical educational theory. We begin here with a discussion of the roots of neo-Marxist educational theory, outlining the ways it grew out of a reaction to mechanistic, functionalist accounts of the role of schools in the reproduction of economic inequalities. Then we explain some of the major theoretical tenets of neo-Marxist educational theory, particularly the concepts of hegemony and relative autonomy. We then provide a review of some of the key ways that neo-Marxist theorists have applied these concepts to broaden and deepen our understandings of the processes of social, cultural, and economic production and reproduction in education. In the process we explore the ways in which neo-Marxist emphases can be complemented by an appropriately politicized set of postmodern and poststructural approaches even when tensions exist both within and among these critical impulses. We conclude this chapter with a discussion of some of the tensions that exist within the neo-Marxist critical educational tradition as well.
