DePaul University Via Sapientiae College of Education Theses and Dissertations College of Education Spring 6-11-2016 The Rise of Neoliberalism - A Transrational Analysis: Towards a New Vision for Urban Education Dennis Kevin Gregory DePaul University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://via.library.depaul.edu/soe_etd Part of the Curriculum and Instruction Commons, and the Curriculum and Social Inquiry Commons Recommended Citation Gregory, Dennis Kevin, "The Rise of Neoliberalism - A Transrational Analysis: Towards a New Vision for Urban Education" (2016). College of Education Theses and Dissertations. 86. https://via.library.depaul.edu/soe_etd/86 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the College of Education at Via Sapientiae. It has been accepted for inclusion in College of Education Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Via Sapientiae. For more information, please contact [email protected]. DePaul University College of Education A Dissertation in Education with a Concentration in Curriculum Studies THE RISE OF NEOLIBERALISM - A TRANSRATIONAL ANALYSIS: TOWARDS A NEW VISION OF URBAN EDUCATION Dennis Kevin Gregory DePaul University © 2016 Dennis Kevin Gregory Submitted in Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements For the Degree of Doctor of Education June 2016 iii ABSTRACT I was driven to this study by witnessing dramatic changes in urban education in recent years and began to ask the questions: What is going on? And why now? This dissertation will show that an extremely powerful and pervasive global phenomenon and ideology known as neoliberalism is at the core of the answers to these questions. As a result, understanding the Rise of Neoliberalism has become a passionate mission for me. Ferguson (2009) argues that a different approach to the study of neoliberalism is needed because the current scholarship is unsatisfactory; generating common pejorative and unsurprising conclusions like ‘it is bad for poor and working people therefore we must oppose it’. Neither Ferguson (2009) nor I disagree with this, but he asks why he should bother to read study after study coming to this same conclusion. This paper argues that the reason for this common conclusion is because of much of the scholarship on neoliberalism lacks causal and motivational connections between people and events that creates a holistic understanding. This prevents the creation of emergent ideas from the data. Without this holistic view, researchers arrive at conclusions in the same manners as those from scientific experiments that use rationality alone. Rudolph Otto (1923) from his book: The Idea of the Holy warns us about the error in our thinking that we have exhausted our means of investigating a phenomenon via rationality alone. To address these issues, this paper will employ a methodology that combines Heuristic Inquiry with Narrative Historiography. This unique combination will use the faith and passion I have as a means to search for a deeper understanding of neoliberalism and at the same time, prevent the error brought to light by Otto (1923). Heuristic Inquiry and Narrative Historiography as methodologies combine the rational and the non-rational in a usage I term transrationality. Howard (1991) tells us that the non-rational falls under narrative or storytelling as an approach to iv increasing human knowledge. It is important to point out that rational and non-rational thinking are not opposites but used in this study as a seamless means of thinking, as they both fall under the umbrella of reason and logic as a path to create a fuller understanding of a phenomenon. Building on and extending the thoughts of Marx (1973), Habermas (1968) and Schopenhauer (1909), this paper will attempt to show that the nature and power of capital, as understood by this researcher, is at the root of what has created neoliberalism and made it into such a dominant global phenomenon and ideology. Key Words: Neoliberalism, Heuristic Inquiry, Narrative Historiography, Transrationalism, Rational, Non-rational v Table of Contents Chapter One: Introduction……………………………………………………………….……1 What drove me to this study?.............................................................................................1 Bolstering the Current Scholarship…………………………………………….……….10 The Research Question………………………………………………………………….12 Study Limitations……………………………………………………………………….12 Order of Presentation…………………………………………………………………...13 Chapter Two: Neoliberalism and Society……………………………………………………16 Introduction…………………………………………………………………………….16 Concepts of Neoliberalism……………………………………………………………...17 Neoliberalism connections to Politics, Racism, Poverty and Education……………….36 Literature Review Summary: Major Themes…...………………………………………69 Ending Discussion - Segue to Chapter Three…………………………………………..72 Chapter Three: Transrationality, Neoliberalism and Methodology……………………….74 Introduction………………………………………………………………….………….74 Chapter Objective……………………………………………………………………….75 Section One- Heuristic Inquiry…………………………………………………………76 Section Two- Narrative Historiography…………………………………………………85 Ending Discussion………………………………….……………………………………97 vi Segue to the Analytic Chapters………………………………………………………….99 Chapter Four: The Intellectual Foundations of Neoliberalism…………………………….101 Introduction……………………………………………………………………….…….101 The Nature and Power of Capital……………………………………………………….104 Section One – Homoeconomicus……………………………………………………….113 Section Two – The Division of Labor………………………………………………….153 Chapter Conclusion………………………………………………………………….….186 Chapter Five: The University of Chicago: From Inception to World War II…………….188 Introduction…………………………………………………………………………….188 The Uniqueness of the University of Chicago………………………………………….191 The Chicago Tradition – Further Analysis……………………………………….…….208 Institutionalism…………………………………………………………………………220 Ending Discussion……………….…………………………………………………..…231 Chapter Six: The Postwar University of Chicago and the Birth of Neoliberalism….……233 Introduction……………………………………………………………….……………233 The Rise of Neoliberalism………………………………………………….………….234 Ending Discussion……………………………………………………….…………….278 vii Chapter Seven: Carriers of the Conservative Torch……………………………………….281 Introduction…………………………………………………………………………….281 Carriers of the Conservative Torch…………………………………………………….285 Connecting the PATCO strike to this study of Neoliberalism…………………………309 Ending Discussion…...…………………………………………………………………315 Chapter Eight: Findings and Conclusions…………………………………………………..317 Introduction.……..……………………………………………………………………..317 Addressing the research question.……..……………………………………………….319 Chapter by chapter high level review and findings…………………………………….319 Study Snapshot…………………………………………………………………………324 Chapter follow-ups……………………………………………………………………..327 Final Discussion………………………………………………………………………..334 Preview to a Proposed Follow-up Study……………………………………………….335 List of Works Cited (proposed study)……………………………………………………….338 List of Works Cited…..……………………………………………………………………….342 viii Dedications and Acknowledgements To begin, this study is dedicated to William and Edytha Gregory, my parents no longer with us, but strong in my spirit. I love you both. It would have been impossible for me to have completed a study of this nature without significant help and guidance; there is no doubt about that. With that, I would like to give my sincere thanks to my dissertation committee members Drs. Kuzmic, Gardner and Chennault for providing me with invaluable assistance, advice and constructive criticisms during this long process. Their input helped strengthen this document to my own and hopefully their satisfaction. I want to give special thanks to my committee chair Dr. Jeff Kuzmic for not only sharing his intellectual suggestions and ideas, but for his enduring patience with me that proved well needed. I learned quite a bit from him and surely must acknowledge his input. Finally, I also want to thank my dear friends Rich, Lisa and Scott for their unwavering support and encouragement. I am fortunate and Blessed to know them. 1 Chapter One: Introduction What drove me to this study? From the Corporate World to the World of Education. I spent the majority of my adult life in the private sector in the banking industry as a senior operations manager of a large international bank. During my career, I established a reputation for managing high morale and high performing departments. As a result, managers north of me gave me significant freedom to run my department the way I wanted with negligible interference. A good percentage of my staff, especially those who worked nights, were African American single mothers. Part of my management style was to have an open door policy where employees on all levels would feel free to come into my office and speak to me about anything in their personal lives. Time and time again, I would listen to many of these women tell me about the concerns they had for their children’s performance in school; often with tears in their eyes. I learned to keep a box of tissues nearby. The connection between their performance on the job and their kids' education became clear. I had to do something that would kill two birds with one stone; help them and their children, thereby helping the department. I went to my boss with an idea that he not only liked, but enthusiastically endorsed and supported. The idea was a new program I coined ‘Saturdays-One-On-One’. It was composed of volunteer managers and supervisors who donated their Saturdays to come in to tutor and mentor