Henry A. Giroux

Neo-liberalism has become the most influential ideology of our times. It guides both Democratic and Republican policies and, increasingly, those of European and developing countries worldwide. Neoliberalism, too commonly regarded an economic theory, is a complex of values, ideologies, and practices that work more broadly as a 'cultural field'.; Giroux argues that its cultural dimensions erode the public participation that is the very foundation of democratic life. Under neoliberal policies, Giroux shows, populations are increasingly denied the symbolic, educational, and economic capital necessary for engaged citizenship. Giroux assesses the impact of neoliberalism on the language of democracy, race, education, and the media, offering alternatives necessary to restore our democratic institutions. [from publisher description].

The University in Chains argues that both the academy and democracy are in peril, that a fundamental assault has been launched on the academy's unfulfilled legacy of democratic education and its present and future role as a democratic public sphere. But the rigid ideological, economic, and religious chains that are now engulfing higher education so as to eliminate critical thought, noncommodified and nonmilitarized forms of knowledge, intellectual engagement with important social issues, and interdisciplinary social formations represent more than an attack on democracy. Such assaults also suggest an attack on politics itself-that is, on those forms of teaching, exchange, dialogue, and social relations that refuse to "methodically eliminate speaking and acting human beings. "The University in Chains makes a case for reclaiming higher education as a democratic public sphere and counterinstitution, one that enables teachers and students to engage in a culture of questioning, a pedagogy of critical engagement, and a democratic politics of civic responsibility.

For more than 20 years Henry Giroux has challenged readers to address the political exploitation and manipulation of American youth. Now, this compelling new book offers a comprehensive selection of Giroux¿s best works. From his most influential classics to new, never before published essays, America on the Edge offers an overview of Giroux's philosophies throughout his career. From his classic subjects, such as education and democracy and media and youth culture, to revolutionary new views on terrorism, globalization, and morality, this book is essential for all Giroux fans and educators alike. Henry Giroux provides a series of brilliant and provocative essays on the rise of authoritarianism in America, the rise of religious fundamentalism, the crisis of youth, the militarizing of public space, the politics of the Abu Ghraib prison scandal, the rise of the corporate university, the rise of Orwellian newspeak in the media, the emergence of a hard-boiled masculinity in popular culture, and what it means to reclaim hope in dark times. These essays combine important social issues with an accessible and clear language of historical understanding, critique, and possibility. Giroux argues that the United States is in the midst of a political crisis that is slowly undermining the foundation of democratic politics, culture, and education. He also argues that the crisis of politics is matched by a crisis of imagination and that if democracy is going to survive it is imperative to both rethink the nature of democracy while refashioning a new political language and cultural politics capable of both stopping the current turn toward authoritarianism and reclaiming the possibilities of a substantive democracy.

Explores what the author calls the culture of fear that has arisen in the United States since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, focusing on how the situation is affecting youth, specifically through assaults on public schools, in Hollywood images, and with the commercialization of higher education.

"While many of the essays in this book were written before 9/11, they point to a number of important issues such as the commercialization of public life, the stepped up militarization, racial profiling, and the threat to basic civil liberties that have been resurrected since the terrorist attacks. Public Spaces, Private Lives serves to legitimate the claim that there is much in America that has not changed since 9/11. Rather than a dramatic change, what we are witnessing is an intensification and acceleration of the contradictions that threatened American democracy before the tragic events of 9/11. Hence, Public Spaces, Private Lives offers a context for both understanding and critically engaging the combined threats posed by the increase in domestic militarization and a neoliberal ideology that substitutes market values for those democratic values that are crucial to rethinking what a vibrant democracy would look like in the aftermath of September 11th."--

Explores the ramifications of the corporate take over of public life emphasizing the effects of that action on education.

Surfing from one channel of communication to the next, cultural theorist Henry Giroux builds a fascinating, complex web of associations among film characters, tarnished real-life teen idols, and sexualized presentations of young clothing models. He goes on to show how this barrage of media images sends a message that sells our children short by damning them to the preconceived role of alienated outcast. Channel Surfing, Henry Giroux's most fascinating and intriguing book yet, is sure to create controversy and debate at the same time that it calls for a more ethical approach to representations of our children and their future.