On Marcuse: Critique, Liberation, and Reschooling in the Radical Pedagogy of Herbert Marcuse

by Douglas Kellner, Clayton Pierce

Herbert Marcuse was one of the most important and renowned philosophers of the 20th century. His thought and his involvement in global student movements played a decisive role in transforming the political landscape of the 60's and 70's in the United States. For many he is remembered as the father of the so-called New Left, a figure who represented theoretical clarity through the fog of war, counterrevolution, and the repression of freedom in advanced industrial society. Yet how did such an influential and powerful thinker interpret the role of education during the turbulent period in which he lived? On Marcuse: Critique, Liberation, and Reschooling in the Radical Pedagogy of Herbert Marcuse seeks to offer ground-breaking answers to this question. Despite his well known relationship with radical student activism, very little has been written on Marcuse's educational philosophy or its connection with his larger critical theory. Drawing on never-before-published archival materials including lectures dating from 1968-1975, this volume presents a definitive overview of Marcuse's educational legacy and its relevance for the contemporary moment. On Marcuse systematically lays out how Marcuse continues to be an important theorist for understanding themes such as educational standardization, critical and dialectical thought, democratic schooling, and the distinction between schooling for social needs and schooling for liberation and health. By situating Marcuse's dialectical analysis of the progressive and conservative trends in schooling within an overall critique of one-dimensional society, this volume demonstrates the importance of the theme of education for Marcuse's overall critical theory and political project. Critical theorists of education, Marcuse scholars, educators, and students will be struck by the unmistakable accuracy of Marcuse's diagnosis of education in one-dimensional society and his challenges for a democratic reconstruction of education. Hence, On Marcuse provides us with not only timely theoretical tools and concrete pedagogical strategies for combating educational sickness caused by one-dimensional society, but also hope in the revolutionary potentials of "reschooling."

44 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Douglas Kellner is a "third generation" critical theorist in the tradition of the Frankfurt Institute for Social Research, or Frankfurt School. Kellner was an early theorist of the field of critical media literacy and has been a leading theorist of media culture generally.[citation needed] In his recent work, he has increasingly argued that media culture has become dominated by the forms of spectacle and mega-spectacle. He also has contributed important studies of alter-globalization processes, and has always been concerned with counter-hegemonic movements and alternative cultural expressions in the name of a more radically democratic society.

Kellner has written with a number of authors, including (with Steven Best) an award-winning trilogy of books on postmodern turns in philosophy, the arts, and in science and technology. More recently, he is known for his work exploring the politically oppositional potentials of new media and attempted to delineate what they term "multiple technoliteracies" as a movement away from the present attempt to standardize a corporatist form of computer literacy. Previously, Kellner served as the literary executor of the famed documentary film maker Emile de Antonio and is presently overseeing the publication of six volumes of the collected papers of the critical theorist Herbert Marcuse. At present, Kellner is the George Kneller Chair in the Philosophy of Education in the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Reviews

[Graham Slater · Rating 4 out of 5]

This brief primer on Marcuse's work, and particularly its relevance to education, is a very useful little volume. However, as it is quite short, it most likely provides a starting point for those interested in delving into Marcuse's work in more depth. Well-written and succinct, I recommend this volume, but especially in tandem with other related works by Kellner in various partnerships with Tyson Lewis, Clayton Pierce, and Daniel Cho.