Education Education and and

the National Security Statethe National Security State

David Dwyer with Anabel Dwyer(copy of paper on

http:www.msu.edu/course/anp/420/dwyer

Questions to be answeredQuestions to be answered

• What is an institutional analysis?– What are its advantages over the concept of

culture?

• What is a National Security State (NSS)?– Why is the US a NSS?

• How does the institution of Higher Education benefit the NSS?

• What is critical thinking?– How do we teach critical thinking?

OutlineOutline

I. The Approach: An institutional analysisII. The Nature of the National Security StateIII. Role of Education and the NSSIV. Suggestions for the Institution of Education.

Part I: Approach – An institutional AnalysisPart I: Approach – An institutional Analysis

1. Anthropological Practices What is Culture? What are the Limitations to the Concept of Culture?

2. The Institution as an alternative to culture as a unit of cultural analysis

What is an Institution? How is MSU an Institution? Advantages of an Institutional Approach Normal Institutions and Participation

Anthropological PracticesAnthropological Practices

• Traditionally, Anthropology has stayed away from:– Studying its own society (here we will look at the US)– Studying its own institution (here will look at education– Issues of power and privilege

• Today this is changing

What is Culture?What is Culture?

• A way of understanding that different societies function differently, have different ways of viewing the world, different ways of doing things.

• Involves the concept of “Cultural relativity.”– The avoidance of placing moral judgments on other

groups just because they are different.• But the concept of culture has some limitations . . .

– Next slide.

What are the Limitations What are the Limitations to the Concept of Culture?to the Concept of Culture?

1.The problem of boundaries.o The definition suggests that the world can be divided up into different cultures

with no overlapping or subcultures.

2.The problem of changeo The definitions suggests that cultures do not change or evolve.

3.The problem of agentso The definition does not directly identify people as the bearers of culture.

4.The problem of power and justice.o Questions of power and privilege are generally overlooked

5.The institution as an alternative view.o Next slide

The Institution as an alternative to culture The Institution as an alternative to culture as a unit of analysis of human societiesas a unit of analysis of human societies

• Society as a collection of interconnected institutions, particularly with respect to the study of large-scale societies. (advocated by Bourdieu 1977)

• What are the key elements in an institution: (game metaphor);– Playing field – Players with assigned roles– Goals; – Rules - defined procedures (ways of doing things and speaking (discourse). – Legitimations (justifications for the institution– Knowledge

• Required to play the game and• How the game is played.

Examples of InstitutionExamples of Institution

• Institutions may be large or small– Greetings, friendship, – The federal government, education, MSU, the

classroom, • An institutional analysis asks that we examine each

institution using the features provided in the previous slide.

MSU as an institutionMSU as an institution• Playing field• Players

– with assigned roles– Rules - defined procedures (ways of doing things and speaking

(discourse).• Goals; • Legitimations (justifications for the institution• Knowledge

– Required to play the game and– How the game is played.

MSU as an institutionMSU as an institution (with answers)(with answers)

• Playing field – the campus (largely)• Players

– with assigned roles• Faculty, Students (grad and undergrad), Administration, Support Staff

– Rules - defined procedures (ways of doing things and speaking (discourse).– Academic discourse, passing courses – From the perspective of the users, the institution is viewed as a resource

• Goals – Each role (and institution) has different goals (graduating, tenure, ….) • Legitimations (justifications for the institution)

– Learn to think critically, help the economy function– Knowledge

• Required to play the game (Faculty – students)• How the game is played.

– How to get tenure, how to teach, – How to talk to professors, how to get good grades

Advantages of the institutional perspective.Advantages of the institutional perspective. • Sees a society as a collection of

institutions some of which overlap and some which don’t. (Unlike the classic definition of culture)

• Retains the concept of culture as a way of understanding human differences (in the areas of legitimation and knowledge

• Sees people (agents) as an important component of the institution (unlike culture)

– People as agents of changes.• Permits the evaluation of institutions with

respect to power and privilege.• Can examine the role of knowledge in the

context of the institutional framework.

Normal Institutions and ParticipationNormal Institutions and Participation

1. Institutions are populated by agents – individuals who view institutions as resources or impediments.

2. In normal institutions members participate voluntarily, as opposed to forced, participation.

3. Legitimizations are a way of encouraging an individual to voluntarily participate in an institution.

4. Thus, the threat and the use of violence to maintain institutional discipline characterizes an abnormal situation.

5. Types of force also include social pressure, though this is not the same as physical force.

Part II: What is the National Security State?Part II: What is the National Security State?

I. The Ideal StateII. The Functioning of the Ideal State.III. Abnormal InstitutionsIV. Legitimating DiscourseV. Insincere LegitimationsVI. Covert CoupsVII. Pathologies of the StateVIII. The National Security StateIX. The US National Security StateX. The Military Industrial Complex

The Ideal StateThe Ideal State

The ideal state consists of a collection of governmental institutions that function to protect its citizens equally and fairly.

• In practice, few states ever live up to all these expectations, however all practical democratic states use a “legitimating discourse” to appeal to this ideal characterization to legitimize their existence.

The functioning of the ideal state depends on four The functioning of the ideal state depends on four important concepts.important concepts.

1. The government is accountable to its citizens for its actions. o Openness

2. Mechanisms (the capacity to select and change practices and principles (laws) of government and its governmental agents) exist for citizens to redress governmental actions they find at odds with their expectations.

o The democratic process3. Its citizens are capable, both intellectually and physically to make such decisions.

o The fundamental importance of the institutions of the law (to ensure the principle of accountability and the capacity to redress)

o Education (to ensure that citizens are intellectually capable of making such decisions).o The participation of its members in these processes.

4. Provide mechanisms for the nonviolent resolution of conflict.5. The legitimations of its institutions are consistent with its practices.

Abnormal InstitutionsAbnormal Institutions1. Participation

o normal institutions function through the voluntary, and not forced, participation of its members.

o Thus, the threat and the use of violence to maintain institutional discipline characterizes an abnormal situation, as in the case of the NSS.

2. Practices and Legitimationso Problematic to abnormal institutions is the disconnect between practices and

legitimations, for when this happens, as Leman-Langlois (below) suggests, the institution loses its social imperative and requires corrective measures.

o Such measures include adjusting its institutional practices to make them consistent with their legitimations, suppressing awareness of the gap (secrecy and lying), changing the legitimation (to fighting terrorism) and resorting to physical force (the police state).

o Ideal states need to build into their institutions procedures and mechanisms to prevent slippage and to provide remediation when necessary.

Legitimating discourseLegitimating discourse o “Legitimating discourse refers to the institution’s internal logic or

rationale, where its goals, methods, and principles are articulated in harmony with prevalent norms and may be presented as “right” (or lesser evils) or “good” (or the best possible) to the concerned social groups.

o It serves to justify to its members and others who are expected to support the institution’s existence and activities.

o Legitimations appeal to a variety of justifications: moral (this institution is good…); theological (this institution is ordained by god); practical (this institution is the best, fairest way to govern); etc.

o Without this understanding, that is, the consent of society, the institution has no social imperative.”

Leman-Langlois (2001: 81)

Insincere legitimationsInsincere legitimations• Legitimations are justifications of the practices of an institution.• They are intended to justify for members and nonmembers alike.• Because they are intended to provide a reason for participation, they are based on principles of fairness

and equal treatment.• Insincere legitimations differ from sincere legitimations in the following ways

– They contain a privileging ideological component– E.g., the use of a constant threat to justify the antidemocratic practices of the NSS.

• Their claims may be at odds with the institutional practices– E.g., They claim democratic principles but do not practice them.– When the inconsistency becomes apparent proponents of the practice offer a new legitimation in its place.– For example, when the insincere claim that Iraq had WMDs (to justify a war) failed, the need to depose a tyrant

quickly replaced it.• They often arise to justify an institutional practice whose real purpose may be otherwise unappealing to

participants. – If it is intentional, we call it propaganda.– Was the war in Iraq really about WMDs or Al Qaida?

• They attempt to associate themselves with sincere ones.– For example, University of California administrator, Bolton (1968) suggested that the CIA legitimize its status by

claiming that the “agency is really a university without students and not a training school for spies,” something the CIA now takes for granted.

– Not all insincere legitimations are this transparent, for people can honestly offer as they can honestly accept insincere legitimations.

Pathologies of the State Pathologies of the State • Democracies vary in their success in achieving these ideal practices. • Any failure of this sort constitutes a coup.

– Two types of coups: overt (obvious) and covert (hidden)• In an overt coup, its perpetrators make no pretense of maintaining democracy in

its seizure of the governmental apparatus, even though they may attempt insincerely to legitimize the coup by claiming that the termination of democratic processes is in the best interest of the citizenry and perhaps promising that when order is restored, democracy will return.

• The covert coup rests on the pretense that the institutions are still living up to their legitimating discourse despite the erosion of governmental responsibilities.

– This type of coup is much less obvious, for the government continues to proclaim its legitimacy as a democracy, and in fact, many of the operations of the democracy do continue including an appearance of accountability and lawful procedures.

Covert CoupsCovert Coups• Typically involve the commandeering of aspects of the governmental apparatus by

nongovernmental sectors. • Normally subordinate governmental institutions take a greater role in the decision-

making process.– The special interest groups through lobbying and campaign contributions– Media groups through influencing the society’s commonsense understanding of the

world. – Military groups through membership on government (national security) councils– The development of secret societies (the CIA) and the control of information (secrecy).

• Crucial to the covert coup is the degree to which individuals who are not really part of the inside group willingly participate in the process of maintaining the NSS.

– E.g. judges, lawyers, professors and students

The National Security State (The NSS)The National Security State (The NSS)• Depends on the acceptance of a persistent threat that justifies a high level of

military preparedness and expenditure.– The US NSS began with the cold war threat of nuclear attack from the Soviet Union. – The end of the cold war also meant the loss of its persistent threat

• Many argued that there would be an end to the NSS and a consequent “peace dividend.”– But the threat of terrorism soon replaced the nuclear threat

• other WMDs joined nuclear weapons as perpetual threats. • Both WMDs and terrorists are aptly suited to the NSS

– They legitimize the necessity for force and violence (war and torture).– They instill fear in the general public - thus encouraging them to “voluntarily” support

high levels of military expenditure.• 9/11 has been used to move beyond a state of permanent threat to a state of

permanent war– Has led to the suspension of constitutional rights and treaty obligations.– Ironically, 9/11 demonstrated that our massive military might fails to provide any

practical security. • Note that an ecological threat is of no interest to the NSS because it cannot be

addressed by a military force. On the other hand, the “war on drugs” is of interest.

The US National Security State The US National Security State

• The US NSS exemplifies a covert coup in a “democratic,” capitalist society – The institutions of the military (with an annual commitment of over

$400 billion - half of the planetary military expenditure) and – The defense industry have come to dominate the governmental

apparatus and have diverted national resources to privileging (some of) the members of those institutions.

– The Military-Industrial Complex (next slide)

• Other states, though on a smaller scale (e.g., Indonesia), possess many of the same characteristics of the US NSS, namely the manufactured threat of enemies to justify a large, relatively speaking, military.

The Military Industrial ComplexThe Military Industrial Complex• President Eisenhower warned of danger of “the military/industrial

complex” when he left office.• Others speak of the “iron triangle” consisting of the military, military

contractors and congress.– These military contractors (Lockeed, McDonald-Douglas, Boeing and General

Dynamics) receive 3 of every 4 dollars spent in the US on the military.• Associated with the US NSS, because of the huge military

expenditures, is the complicity of the commercial sector, a “syndical fascist system,…, a series of partnerships between business, labor, the university, the military, … [which is] an attempt to replace the social contract in terms of a corporative system of agreements between leaderships” (Raskin 1971:168).

• The University? How can it contribute to the national security state?

Part III: Education OutlinePart III: Education Outline

1. The Goals of Higher Education2. Education and the State

Federal Funding and Education3. Michigan State University and the NSS4. Extra Institutional Influences on the University.

The Political Filter The Research Filter

5. Internal Influences on the University The Tenure Filter The Knowledge Filter

6. Next Section: Conclusion

What are the Goals of Higher Education?What are the Goals of Higher Education?

• Today, we charge the university with the responsibility to prepare individuals for: – securing a livelihood– participation in society (liberal or general education).

• Historically– The founding of Universities like Harvard was to provide moral

guidance for the future ruling elites. (Rudolph 1977) – While initially, this morality was equated with biblical teaching,

today it has broadened into what we now call GenEd.– Universal education arose because of its potential to provide

discipline, cultural uniformity and loyalty to the state (Ramirez and Boli 1987).

Education and the StateEducation and the State

• In the US, education is financed primarily by state and local government.

• Thus, education appears to be insulated from external influence• Yet, this institution has been colonized by external forces, including

various institutions of the NSS through mandates and incentives.– Many mandates require these institutions to meet their civic responsibilities

(instruction in civics and history; insuring equal opportunity, and access to low interest student loans).

– One such mandate, whose origin can be traced back to Nuremberg, requires Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) at research institutions to protect the rights of human research subjects. (known at MSU as UCRHS)

– Other mandates like the Patriot and Homeland Security acts require universities to report changes in foreign student status. Institutions failing to comply become ineligible for federal funding.

Federal Funding of EducationFederal Funding of Education• The federal government provides about 10% of the budget for education at all

levels 6% – 2.9% of the federal budget funds the US Department of Education (ED) whose mission

is “to ensure equal access to education and to promote educational excellence throughout the Nation” (ED 2003b).

• In 1999 the U.S. government spent slightly over $20 billion on defense-related research and development (R&D) of which $1.8 billion went to universities. (source NSF)

– Of this amount, 40% goes to 10 universities (Johns Hopkins gets 15%). – MSU gets $2.5 million from the DOD, 0.2% of MSU’s total budget.

• Sciences & technology get much more funding than Social Sciences and Arts– engineering disciplines receiving 42% of their funding from the DOD (US Government

1997). – Some of the 2003 Department of Homeland Security (R&D) $1 billion budget will find its

way to the universities in the form of graduate and undergraduate fellowships.– MSU is in the running for a $2 Billion Nuclear Accelerator.

Federal Funding (example)Federal Funding (example)• The National Defense Education Act (aka Title VI of the National

Education Act) spends $27 million (2002) to fund 118 university-based National Resource Centers for language & area studies. – At MSU: African Studies, CASID, WID, Asian Studies, ….– The original legitimation of this act had been to develop expertise in the

languages and cultures of the world in the event of war.– Subsequent legitimations involve developing an awareness of the world in

which we live, by training teachers for and offering area studies and language courses.

• Other academic global studies units arose from defense-related activities.– Columbia University’s School of International Affairs, the nation’s first

international center, grew out of its wartime Naval School of Military Government and Administration (Horowitz 1969).

MSU and the NSSMSU and the NSS• What are the limits to defense-related research a university? • Most consider MSU to have crossed the line in 1954 when it became involved in a

project to train and install a government in Vietnam. – This program, which began as a seemingly innocent training program, turned into a

military operation supplying guns and ammunition to the US supported Diem puppet regime, and in the words of its coordinator, Stanley Sheinbaum (1966), “our Project had become a CIA front.”

– Soon, MSU found itself supporting an undemocratic regime with serious human rights abuses. Yet, until exposed, Sheinbaum’s notes, the faculty and university administrators were generally “untroubled” by the project.

– Website for the MSU project. http://www.cia-on-campus.org/msu.edu/msu.html• Were this an isolated event, then perhaps we could understand it as the result of an

overzealous college president wanting to put his university on the map, but there are too many similar examples at other universities to justify this interpretation.

• MSU also seemed untroubled when its president, Peter McPhearson went to Iraq to assist in the occupation.

– A way of legitimizing the participation of the education in the NSS.

Extra Mural InfluencesExtra Mural Influences

• The public often questions the “ivory tower” autonomy of the university without realizing how essential this is to the University’s General Education mission and that this autonomy has been substantially compromised by external influences

• The Political Filter• The Research Filter.

The Political FilterThe Political Filter

I. Avoiding “The Political”II. Dependence on External FundingIII. The Role of Bias Panels

Political Filter I (avoiding the political)Political Filter I (avoiding the political)• The university and its academic disciplines have developed a set of orthodox

practices that insulate them from extramural criticism – Avoiding “political” positions and discourse

• while professing at the same time that the academy is a place where such discussion should take place freely and openly.

• Avoidance of discussions of the war in Iraq.– Defining academic discourse in a way that suggests neutrality –

• E.g., the scientific method; cultural relativity.• Tthe term “political”

– Literal sense of “discourse pertaining to how decisions are made in society– As used: discourse that challenges the prevailing orthodoxy.

• This avoidance of “political topics” (criticizing the war in Iraq) that might jeopardize either the individual or the institution narrows the academic discourse and helps to explain why, academics find it difficult to teach and write about problems associated with the NSS with the result that the NSS gains legitimacy from the absence of this critical circumspection.

Political Filter II (Dependence on External Funding)Political Filter II (Dependence on External Funding)

• Since the 1960s, universities have increasingly depended on tuition, grants and gifts to supplement state support.

• In this context, the cost to the university of being “political” is estrangement from these sources.

• These potential costs often lead to self-censorship and the avoidance of “political” discourse in the classrooms, political research and public service. – Joas (2003), citing Bahrdt, observed “that a scrutiny of school textbooks on

social studies or introductions to sociology must give the impression that the societies we live in have neither armed forces nor police.”

– Wolf (1982) noted the skewed subject matter of the social sciences (in the US) and that they rarely address the needs of the working people, with political science being preoccupied with orthodox policy, and economics focusing on the needs of corporations.

Political Filter III The Role of Bias PanelsPolitical Filter III The Role of Bias Panels

• “Bias panels”, such as the National Assessment Government Board censor controversial (political) words and topics from the nation’s textbooks thus lessening student exposure to anything but the orthodox.– Bias panels, legitimatize this practice by citing the need to avoid

stereotypes and situations not common to all so that tests will be fairer to all. Such legitimations pose a danger to the state for they legitimate the avoidance of the examination of controversial issues, so necessary to the democratic state. Ravitch (2003)

• Can’t talk about Eskimoes because not all readers know about ice and snow.

• Can’t talk about soda or pop, but can talk about Coca Cola.

The Research Filter IThe Research Filter I• Only 40% of MSU’s annual expenditure of $1.4 billion in 2001-2 comes from the

state-supplied general fund– This places increased emphasis on research revenue– Has risen to 20% of the operating budget (MSU Budget 2003).

• In Dutch universities, faculty obtain internal (rather than external) funding for research projects,

– They submit their proposals to a university committee, much in the same way individuals are reviewed for tenure in U.S. universities – not external sources.

– Most US grants come from outside funding agencies: – MSU: Government (47% federal, 15% state); foundation (2.4%) or industry (3.5%).

• External funding agencies help to define the domain of legitimate research by evaluating and funding projects consistent with their own agenda

– Contrast this with the Dutch example.

(the research filter continued)

• The ability to garner grants is now understood as a means of acquiring academic capital, almost on a par with publication.

• Some disciplines (agriculture, engineering, business, medicine, the “hard” sciences and economics) receive more support than others– These disciplines and faculty are more influenced externally. – These fields find it easier to obtain academic capital than fields like literature,

languages, history and philosophy. • This availability of specific types of research money helps to explain

the skewing of the social science research agenda, described by Wolf (1982) above, and the skewing of the level of prestige of members of different disciplines. – This effect also reaches into the curriculum and the classroom, for professors

teach what they know and what they know comes from their research. This practice contrasts sharply with the legitimation of the university as a free and open place to investigate and explore ideas.

Internal Influences on the UniversityInternal Influences on the University

• The educational process involves socialization, discipline and the acquisition of orthodox knowledge.

• Students quickly learn the consequences of compliance and non-compliance. – Good grades depend as much on following procedures as they do

on mastering knowledge.– Faculty undergo several filtering processes, first, as students at

the primary, secondary and collegiate level, then as graduate students (and apprentice teachers), the job interview, and the tenure process.

• The Scholarship Role..

The Scholarship RoleThe Scholarship Role• Above all, faculty are expected to be reliable scholars by

conducting research, publishing its results in journals using appropriate scholarly discourse, and behaving in a dignified, scholarly manner.

• The Faculty Handbook (MSU 2003) describes both faculty rights and responsibilities. – MSU endorses academic freedom and responsibility as essential

to attainment of the University's goal of the unfettered search for knowledge and its free exposition. Academic freedom and responsibility are fundamental characteristics of the University environment

MSU endorses academic freedom and responsibility as essential to attainment of the University's goal of the unfettered search for knowledge and its free exposition. Academic freedom and responsibility are fundamental characteristics of the University environment•Responsibilities:

– pursue excellence and intellectual honesty in teaching, research, … and public service activities; and in publishing …;

– encourage students and colleagues to engage in free discussion and inquiry; … – evaluate student and colleague performance on a scholarly basis; work in a collegial

manner …– encourage the free search for knowledge … ;– refrain from introducing matters which are not consistent with their teaching duties and

professional competence …;– differentiate carefully their official activities as faculty members from their personal

activities as citizens.•Rights:

– seek changes in institutional policy through established University procedures and by lawful and peaceful means;

– discuss in the classroom any material which has a significant relationship to the subject matter as defined in the approved course description; determine course content, grading, and classroom procedures in the courses they teach; conduct research and to engage in creative endeavors … publish or present research findings and creative works … engage in public service activities.

Comments on Rights and ResponsibilitiesComments on Rights and Responsibilities

• The statement shows a concern for the rights of the students as well, but at the same time, it protects the university from legal challenges.

• It also contains considerable vagueness: “pursue excellence”; “work in a collegial manner”; “in a professional manner.” This is quite typical of documents that also serve as institutional legitimations, allowing for multiple interpretations with the advantage that more people can subscribe to it and the disadvantage that nobody knows what they really mean (Rappaport 1979).

• This vagueness also makes it difficult to test whether our legitimations actually match our practices and facilitates the opportunistic hijacking of these terms by the NSS for its own purposes.

– For example, Bolton (1968) suggested that the term “academic freedom” could be used to justify the participation of scholars in CIA projects.

The Tenure Filter: What is tenure?The Tenure Filter: What is tenure?

• Original legitimation: to protect the academic freedom– allowing faculty to speak their mind without fear of reprisal.

• Current practice:– The university uses this process to improve, its stock of faculty.

• To achieve tenure new faculty have to perform at a high level including twelve-hour days and missing out on social and family life, even postponing the decision to have children.

– The use of the tenure process as an important mechanism for controlling deviance. • Young faculty also need to watch what they say.

– Several years ago, a friend of ours, at another university, distributed a factual leaflet concerning the similarity in practices by the apartheid government of South Africa and the state of Israel. He received a “friendly” warning to postpone such activities until after tenure, which he did not receive.

– It renders the faculty more cautious, less “political”, and less likely to take on issues such as the NSS either in their teaching, research, and in conducting university business.

• Ironically, the current practice is at odds with the original legitimation.– Illustrates, the potential for an institution to change its practices and purpose– That institutions are viewed by its users as resources that can be put to their own

uses.

The Knowledge FilterThe Knowledge Filter• Acedemic disciplines have an acute sense about what constitutes permissible

knowledge pervades the academic field. • This sense often results in self-censure:

– the avoidance of unorthodox and political positions, despite the presence of tenure and academic freedom and derives in part from the awareness of what might happen were one to go against the prevailing “common sense.””

• One of the most celebrated examples of this comes from the field of geography.– Not so long ago, the concept, then called “continental drift,” now theorized as “plate

tectonics,” was considered wrong. – Alfred Wegener (1880-1930) espoused the concept of continental drift– Wegener was demonized so that he the only academic job he could find was

teaching high school. – However, not all heretics are correct and even fewer, like Wegener, vindicated.

• As faculty, we learn the limits of acceptable knowledge and undertake extreme caution whenever we venture outside its bounds, academic freedom not withstanding.

• This helps to explain why the academy does not embrace research into “political” areas such as militarism and popular economics.

The constraints on the Academic Institution.

• The various filters– The Political Filter– The Research Filter– The Tenure Filter– The Knowledge Filter

• All these filters work to control the individual within the institution.– Franz Boas, the founder of Academic Anthropology was censured by

the organization he helped found, the Amercan Anthropological Association in December of 1919.

– Boas was censured in large part (Stocking1968) because he wrote a letter to the Nation publicly condemning four individuals who used their position as scholars to spy for the US Government during WWI.

• To the extent that this institution is controlled by the NSS, we can say that the NSS controls these individuals.

Part III ConclusionPart III Conclusion

1. General Education and its Role in a Democratic Society

2. Towards a more responsible Educational Institution.

3. Eco’s Intellectual Function and Moral Function.4. Critical Thinking

What is General Education and What is General Education and What is its Role in a Democratic Society?What is its Role in a Democratic Society?

• Today, we charge the university with the responsibility to prepare individuals for:

– securing a livelihood and– participation in society (liberal or general education).

• Very few books show up in a library search using “General Education” as a key word.

• At the university, we give little attention and discussion to what it is and how to achieve it.

• The academy itself is not immune from false legitimations and self-serving ideology.

Towards a More Socially Responsible Educational Towards a More Socially Responsible Educational InstitutionInstitution

• The Problem– Many postmodernists argue the concept of an enlightened

electorate is impossible • consequently that democracies in the postmodern era are destined to fail

as in the case of the current NSS.– This is the opposite of the expectations of the enlightenment (the

modernists)• Is it possible to develop an enlightened electorate?

– If so, how? – Paulo Freire (1987) and Henry Giroux (1987) suggest that we

take a more critical view of how we are preparing our children as citizens in a legitimate democracy.

– Critical thinking.

The intellectual v the moral function.The intellectual v the moral function.

• Eco (Five Moral Pieces) speaks of the importance of the “intellectual function” as opposed to “moral.” – “the first duty of the intellectual is to criticize his own traveling

companions (‘to think’ means to play the voice of conscience).” – the intellectual function differs from and must be kept separate

from “the moral function” of the citizen, which “requires the elimination of nuances and ambiguities.”

– And to act. • The intellectual function is not limited to intellectuals.

– We see the intellectual and moral functions operating dialectically for all citizens in the sense that each informs the other.

• The task of deciding when to use either poses an important challenge to all.

What is Critical Thinking I?What is Critical Thinking I?

• The capacity for critical thought as the cornerstone of education and a democratic state, but what does this mean?

• Ironically, we honor Socrates for his ability to teach critical thinking, but we often forget that his success proved fatal.

• Critical thinking often means something “smart” people avoid, i.e., “political.”

• This situation is symptomatic of overlooking the disconnect between our legitimations and our practices.

What is Critical Thinking II?What is Critical Thinking II?Three Answers1. Thinking through a problem logically

– Using explicitly stated assumptions– Evaluating the assumptions as well.

2. Evaluating an explanation from the perspective of an institution and asking – Is the explanation a legitimation of an institution?– Is the legitimation consistent with the practices of the institution.

3. Evaluating an explanation from the perspective of ideology and – Asking who benefits from the explanation?– If the answer is me, then examine the explanation more closely using #1.

• The critical function “consists of identifying critically what one considers a satisfactory approximation of truth” and involves “delving for ambiguities and bringing them to light.” Umberto Eco

How do you teach critical thinking?How do you teach critical thinking?

Building Citizens of the WorldBuilding Citizens of the WorldWe need to develop

• “the ability to think of oneself as what Stoic philosophers called a citizen of the world, …;

• [to explore] issues from agriculture to human rights to the relief of famine”;

• [to] require our minds to venture beyond local affiliations and consider the reality of distant lives.

• To attain this ability, however, students need – to learn a great deal more than students in previous generations

typically did about the history and culture of non-Western people,

– and of ethnic and racial minorities within their own culture; – about the achievements and experience of woman; ....”

Nussbaum (1997) • The importance of international experiences:

– Study abroad, Peace Corps, Language Study, International Friends

SummarySummary

I. The Approach: An institutional analysis Institutional components Especially the role of legitimation and knoweldge

II. The Nature of the National Security State Constant threat/permanent war The role of force and violence/Abnormal Institutions

III. Role of Education and the NSS External influences/Filters

IV.Suggestions for the Institution of Education. Critical thinking/New Experiences and Understandings

Questions to be answeredQuestions to be answered

• What is an institutional analysis?– What are its advantages over the concept of

culture?

• What is a National Security State (NSS)?– Why is the US a NSS?

• How does the institution of Higher Education benefit the NSS?

• What is critical thinking?– How do we teach critical thinking?

The EndThe End