Communist Study: Education for the Commons

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Contending that radical politics needs educational theory, Communist Study: Education for the Commons poses a series of educational questions pertinent to revolutionary movements: How can pedagogy bridge the gap between what is and what can be, while respecting the gap and its uncertainty and figurality How can pedagogy accommodate ambiguity while remaining faithful to the communist project In answering these questions, educational theorist Derek R. Ford develops a pedagogical constellation that radically opens up what education is and what it can mean for revolutionary struggle. To chart this constellation, Ford takes the reader on a journey that traverses disciplinary and ideological boundaries, innovatively reading theorists as diverse as Agamben, Marx, Lyotard, Butler, and Lenin. Demonstrating that learning is the educational logic that underpins capitalism and democracy, Ford articulates a theory of communist study as an alternative and oppositional logic. Poetic, performative, and provocative, this theory of study is oriented toward what Ford calls the sublime feeling of being-in-common, which, as he insists, is always a commonness against.

Reviews

Fords Communist Study is insightful, thought-provoking, and therapeutic while unsettling and challenging to critical conventions. [T]he challenging nature of the book is not accidental but rather it is intentional. As Ford notes, There is a resulting tension that runs through the book, a tension that I hope readers find both productive and troubling (p. 7). This book bridges the oft intellectual divide, bringing postmodernism into relation with Marxism and political economy, to structure the edifice of a communist pedagogy. In doing so, Ford establishes himself as a premier educational and political theorist. * Discourse *
[S]uccinct yet dense. . . . Fords thinking on communist study is open, potential, and original in pointing out a new possibility of thinking itself. * Studies in Philosophy and Education *
Derek R. Fords Communist Study: Education for the Commons advances communist pedagogy. * International Critical Thought *
This book clearly establishes Ford as one of the boldest and most insightful emerging political and educational theorists. Ford moves deftly and daringly between disparate thinkers and concepts, weaving together philosophy, history, and educational theory in creative, profound, and lucid ways. He identifies and answers the most pressing political question of our moment: What does it mean to study like a communist In doing so, he develops a groundbreaking communist theory of study, a praxis that is as provocative as it is practical. -- Peter McLaren, Distinguished Professor in Critical Studies, Chapman University
Ford understands that revolutions dont organize themselves, nor do they evolve naturally and painlessly from the social and economic system destroying the world and crushing humanity today; revolutions are not a walk in the park nor do they arrive on the wings of aspiration alone. This surprising book extends that battle based on the Marxist principle that its not enough to interpret the worldThe point . . . is to change it. It maps the treacherous, hopeful territory between the pessimism of the head and the optimism of the heart. Communist Study is a necessary book. -- Bill Ayers, emeritus, University of Illinois at Chicago
Communist Study should be required of all theorists and activists concerned with radical political transformation. With brilliance and courage, Derek R. Ford dismantles dogma old and new, pressing us to forge the commonness that can make us a political force. -- Jodi Dean, Hobart and William Smith Colleges

Author Bio

Derek R. Ford is assistant professor of education studies at DePauw University.