The Learning Society from the Perspective of Governmentality

This collection of essays considers a variety of educational ideas and programs from the perspective of governmentality, integrating conceptual and theoretical insights and empirical investigation of policy documents, and government technologies.

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• Considers different educational ideas of enlightenment, creativity, participation, inclusion, learning, and critique
  
• Offers an overview of French philosopher Michel Foucault’s theory on governmentality and how his ideas apply to current developments in society and education
  
• Investigates the intrinsic relationship between intellectual and practical educational technologies
  
• A study of how educational practice and educational theory have played a constitutive role in practices of subjectivity which are crucial to ‘learning societies’

Jan Masschelein is Professor for Philosophy of Education at the Catholic University of Leuven. His primary areas of scholarship are educational theory, political philosophy, critical theory, studies of governmentality and social philosophy. Currently his research concentrates on the 'public' character of education and on 'mapping' and 'walking' as critical research practices.

Maarten Simons is lecturer and post-doctoral researcher at the Centre for Educational Policy and Innovation, Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium. His research interests are educational policy and political philosophy with special attention for governmentality and schooling, autonomy and higher education and performativity in education.

Ulrich Bröckling, Ph.D., is a sociologist. He is Coordinator of the Graduate Research Program ‘Figures/Figurations of the Third’ at the University of Konstanz, Germany and co-Editor of the journal Leviathan. Berliner Zeitschrift für Sozialwissenschaft."His research interests are: cultural theory, philosophical anthropology, sociology of self technologies and social technologies and governmentality studies.

Ludwig A. Pongratz is Professor of Educational Theory (Allgemeine Pädagogik) and Adult Education at the Darmstadt Technical University (Germany). His publications and research concentrate primarily on the history of educational theory and the methodology of pedagogy, critical theory and educational philosophy, school pedagogy and adult education. His research includes empirical studies alongside his historical and conceptual works.