Neoliberalization of educational policy discourses in Chile

In an age of globalization dominated by a neoliberal ideology, many scholars have studied the effects of a market-driven model on education systems in different parts of the world. They have focused on the scope and effects of neoliberalism on school funding, governance, student and school performance, among others. These works, however, have paid less attention to the transformations of neoliberalism or to the language used to reshape educational policies in market terms. Building upon literature which emphasizes neoliberalism’s fluid nature and historic contingency and recognizes the struggles and compromises through which its meaning is both reconfigured and reasserted in different contexts, this dissertation looks at the way in which neoliberal ideas were rearticulated in Chile’s new General Law of Education (LGE). The LGE can be regarded as a response to the shortcomings of the neoliberal logic embedded in its predecessor, the Constitutional Organic Law of Education (LOCE), a law promoting school competition and privatization which became the target of virulent student protests in April of 2006 because of its ill effects on disadvantaged students. At a time when education systems around the world are dealing with the shortcomings of neoliberalism and trying to reconcile equity concerns with a salient emphasis on competition and quality performance, this work provides some insights about the tensions and challenges involved in articulating the former with the later through a discursive analysis of the LGE. It also emphasizes that while global neoliberal frameworks might contribute to shape national policy discourses, understanding their intricacies, the meanings and articulations of the words chosen, and ultimately, their solutions, requires considering the forces involved in the policy creation, their discursive struggles, along with their compromises and value trade-offs.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Educational Policy Studies

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2012

Author dc:creator

• Pitton, Viviana

Contributors dc:contributor

• Rizvi, Fazal
• McCarthy, Cameron R.
• Peters, Michael A.
• Miraftab, Faranak

• neoliberalism
• education reform
• discourse analysis
• critical policy analysis
• Chile

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2012 Viviana Pitton

Language dc:language

en

Handle dc:identifier

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/32033

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/32033