Talk: Ideological Hegemony and Higher Education: Ideas as Material Forces [] Center for Global Justice

The attacks on “critical race theory” are part of an assault by some powerful political and economic forces, including allies of the Koch Foundation, who seek to shape who and what is taught in educational systems. Universities, long sites for the contestation of ideas, are being transformed into promoters of the prevailing economic and political orthodoxies.

Professors Harry Targ and Dan Morris will examine how the ideology of neoliberalism is becoming hegemonic in higher education. Dan Morris, a literary scholar and poet, will examine the views of Michael Crow, president of Arizona State, who is shaping his university along the lines promoted by the Koch brothers.

Harry Targ, Professor Emeritus in the Department of Political Science at Purdue University, will discuss how his university has been similarly transformed. Targ is co-chair of Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism. He is author of books and articles on international relations, Cuba, and the labor movement. He also blogs at Diary of a Heartland Radical.

This webinar builds on last week’s discussion of the Koch brothers stealth plan against democracy in the interest of the wealthy.