Capitalism, liberalism, and schooling

Conclusion

Clearly, Schooling in Capitalist America is not without its limitations. It is charcterized by an ahistorical treatment of the functions of education, an economistic conception of social structure, an inadequate theory of reproduction and contradiction, and a seriously inaccurate account of educational politics. Yet despite its problems, Schooling is a very important and valuable work. Bowles and Gintis are particularly successful in developing an effective critique of the liberal political economy of education, and a conceptualization of a broad theory of the dynamics of educational change that confounds all previous accounts, whether liberal or revisionist. Schooling in Capitalist America is therefore a valuable, if flawed, starting point for a Marxist research program into the history and political economy of education. Its contributions to that research program are significant, and its difficulties instructive. While Schooling therefore is not all that one could wish for, it is a significant and provocative beginning. Moreover it is model of engaged and committed scholarship that provides some understanding of what is required for the collective control of the future.