Critical Realism for Marxist Sociology of Education

Grant Banfield is currently an academic worker at the Flinders University of South Australia. He researches and writes on the application of Marxian social theory to educational praxis and intellectual work. He is an editorial advisor of the Journal of Critical Education Policy Studies and founding convenor of the Australian Sociological Association’s thematic group, Social Activism.

• Preface Introduction: Critical Realism, Marxism and Education 1. Marxism: Philosophy, Science and Revolution 2. Western Marxism: From Marx to Marxism 3. The Old and the New: Stirrings from the Long Calm 4. Critical Realist Tools for Marxism and Education 5. The Problem of Naturalism 6. The Problem of Structure and Agency 7. Conclusion: Critical Realism for Revolutionising Practice

Meticulously researched and cogently argued, Critical Realism for Marxist Sociology of Education is an outstanding work of scholarship that makes a powerful case for the centrality of Bhaskar's work in the field of critical education by advancing a critical realist Marxist method and revolutionary Marxism. This is one of the most important contributions to Marxist education in years and will stand as a classic work for years to come.Peter McLaren, Author of Capitalists and Conquerors and Pedagogy of InsurrectionDistinguished Professor in Critical Studies, Chapman UniversityCritical Realism for a Marxist Sociology of Education has a significant and timely intention. It aims to clarify the condition of theoretical, research and praxis effort among those of us in the field of critical sociology of education. It assists us pursue deeper and clearer understandings of social-structural inequalities that transect schools and society, and the ways in which we and other living actors have agency to transform those inequalities. This book is very carefully wrought to make difficult concepts and philosophical argumentations accessible. It is to be read slowly and carefully, matching the slow care of the author’s thought work. But the labour of reading is so greatly rewarded. The writing makes it possible, without priori versification in the literatures, to grasp the argument and indeed the literatures. I feel seriously educated by this book.Dr Lew Zipin, Victoria University, Melbourne, AustraliaBanfield’s Critical Realism for a Marxist Sociology of Education takes a unique approach building a project on an educational reading of Marx drawing on Bhaskar’s Critical Realism, not to replace Marx, but rather, to offer a conceptual ground clearing. As Critical Realism is a philosophy only, it winds up working as a laborer for a Marxist revolutionary educational practice, offering significant ontological insights regarding the nature of reality from which a socialist alternative must emerge. Toward these ends Banfield offers a naturalistic interpretation of Marx’s emphasis on working class agency because people are not mere passive receivers of history, but are the active agents who either reproduce or subvert capitalist society and production relations as they really exist. Critical Realism for Marxist Sociology therefore offers invaluable contributions for challenging the rule of capital through a radical educational project, and is a must read for radical educators struggling to revolutionize practice.Dr Curry Mallott, Assistant Professor, Educational Foundations, West Chester University of Pennsylvania, USA.