Building a world unfit to live in: The deception, distraction and disavowal of the fetish

Abstract

This account proposes that the impact of secondary neoliberal violence on education has promoted the development of learning as a fetish. It is within this context that human learning, the ability to respond to and not simply seek to control, is in danger of being destroyed. The context of environmental degradation and particularly the English badger cull, provide evidence that the ability to learn, to think has been sadly depleted. This paper makes the claim that education has emerged from violent acts and has violence inherent within it. For learning to take place the learner must be confronted with a disruption between what is already known and how this knowledge or skill base must be modified to adapt to the new conditions. Likewise, the role of the teacher/parent is to offer a violent disruption that requires a response form the learner.