Introduction

Abstract

This book explores the seemingly separate but interrelated nature of three myths, all of which function to limit substantive democracy, the welfare of children, and socially engaged scholarship. The first myth, "the end of history," assumes that liberal democracy has achieved its ultimate victory and that the twin ideologies of the market and representative democracy now constitute, with few exceptions, the universal values of the new global village.1 Within this myth, liberal culture becomes synonymous with market culture, and the celebrated freedoms of the consumer are bought at the expense of the freedoms of citizens. Little public recognition is given to either the limits that democracies must place on market power or how corporate culture and its narrow definition of freedom as a private good actually may threaten the well-being of children and of democracy itself. In short, the conflation of democracy with the market cancels the tension between market moralities and those values of civil society that cannot be measured in strictly commercial terms but that are critical to democratic public life. I am referring specifically to values such as justice, respect for children, and the rights of citizens.KeywordsYoung PeoplePopular CultureCultural PoliticsCorporate CultureCritical EducatorThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.