Anarchism and Education: A Philosophical Perspective

There has been no systematic work on the philosophical underpinnings of anarchist educational ideas-until now.

Anarchism and Education offers a historical account of anarchist educational ideas and experiments. And it situates them in the framework of contemporary debates in the philosophy of education and political philosophy. This book is based largely on a reconstruction of the educational thought of anarchist thinkers gleaned from their various ethical, philosophical, and popular writings-nineteenth-century anarchist theorists such as Bakunin, Kropotkin, and Proudhon and twentieth-century anarchist thinkers like Noam Chomsky, Paul Goodman, Daniel Guerin, and Colin Ward. Suissa explores the relationship between anarchist ideas and issues of pedagogy, school climate, curriculum, and policy and examines the political and social context of educational ideas. She proffers a trenchant critique of current trends in educational theory and policy such as calls for free markets in educational provision.

This original work will interest philosophers of education and educationalist thinkers as well as those with a general interest in anarchism.