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“We Teach All Hearts to Break”: On the Incompatibility of Education with Schooling at All Levels, and the Renewed Need for a De-Schooling of Society

2012; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 48; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/00131946.2011.637259

1532-6993

Christian Garland,

Political theory and Gramsci

Abstract ‘We teach all hearts to break’ was graffiti spray painted on a school building in London's Notting Hill Gate in 1968/69 by the Situationst-influenced group King Mob cited by two former members in Paddington Bear (1988). ‘Once upon a time there was a place called Nothing Hill Gate.’ Retrieved Sept. 30, 2011, from http://www.revoltagainstplenty.com/index.php/recent/34-archivelocal/120-once-upon-a-time-in-notting-hill Education is for anarchism, and what can very broadly be termed autonomism—that is, the many different schools of non-Leninist Marxism—of paramount importance in creating a society worthy of humanity, but this is not a simple formula of countering the dominant mode of institutional indoctrination known as schooling with libertarian propaganda, though that may have its place. The importance of education can be said to be “an-end-in-itself” prefiguring free social relations of community and reciprocity, comprised of autonomous individuals capable of comprehending both themselves and the world in which they live. Such a process of learning and acquiring knowledge must also nourish intellect and other forms of intelligence, just as intellect and other forms of intelligence nourish the acquisition of knowledge. This paper will seek to critically explore some of the key issues involved in an anarcho-Marxist critique of schooling and develop the basis for what might constitute an alternative view of education which could be said to be in radical opposition to such schooling at all levels. Notes 1. The use of the feminine herself here, is deliberate: The original text, of course, uses the masculine himself, and the reversal aims at two subversive uses, firstly the obvious basic redress that women comprise half the population of the world, yet have always had a subordinate status ascribed to them, and second, recognition also, that gender-fucking, in which traditional and accepted gender roles are undermined and subverted, is far closer to the sexual equality of gender blindness than institutional identity politics could ever offer, taken to mean the refusal of an ascribed role and identity, as much as any positive notion of one, i.e., the definition of a subject based primarily on the sex they happen to be. An awareness of the contemporary setting that Marx (and more than a century later, Illich), were writing in, is present, however, and neither author can be blamed for their preferred use of the masculine. 2. http://www.wea.org.uk/ 3. For a detailed philosophical exploration of prefiguration, see Franks (Citation2006), especially Chapter 2: The Anarchist Ethic and Chapter 3: Agents of Change. 4. “You want me to wear more flair?” is a line from the film Office Space. Directed by Mike Judge. Los Angeles, CA: Twentieth Century Fox, 1999. The line is spoken by the character Joanna (Jennifer Anniston) who works as a waitress in a theme-restaurant in which staff are required to where a requisite amount of standardized flair—badges and the like to emphasize their individuality and kookiness, to show that the job does not require standardization of them—affective or emotional labor, a simulation of what remains incompatible with the material servitude of the wage relation. Joanna is asked by her manager why she is not wearing more, and says that she is, in fact, wearing the required amount, and asks if he would like her to wear more, to which he responds, “What do you think it says about someone who only does the bare minimum?” 5. The specific thinkers meant here are primarily Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri, Paulo Virno, and Franco ‘Biffo’ Berardi. Hardt and Negri's thought is of immense importance and is, itself, a very significant contribution to reworking and reenergizing critical and revolutionary theory, but not is not without major flaws. For a nuanced and qualified critique from the same side’ see Holloway, Matamoros, and Tischler (2009). 6. This rebranding of the British Labour Party was centered on Tony Blair, and found a postideological turn in Anthony Giddens’ ([2000] 2011) concept of the The Third Way. 7. Savage (Citation2010), Garner and Morris (2010, Vasagar and Shepherd (2010), Shepherd (Citation2011). 8. Jeevan Vasagar, Paul Lewis, and Nicholas Watt, “This is just the beginning,” The Guardian, Nov. 11, 2010; Andy McSmith, Richard Garner, Wright, and Rebecca Gonsalves, “The New Politics - Student Riot Marks End of Coalition's Era of Consensus,” The Independent, Nov. 11, 2010.