Descriptions, Reviews, etc.
Description:
Awarded Best Book prize by CIES Globalization and Education SIG
Awarded 2nd Prize in the Society of Educational Studies Annual Book Prize
Elite schools have always been social choreographers par excellence. The world over, they put together highly dexterous performances as they stage and restage changing relations of ruling. They are adept at aligning their social choreographies to shifting historical conditions and cultural tastes. In multiple theatres, they now regularly rehearse the irregular art of being global. Elite schools around the world are positioned at the intersecting pinnacles of various scales, systems and regimes of social, cultural, political and economic power. They have much in common but are also diverse. They illustrate how various modalities of power are enjoyed and put to work and how educational and social inequalities are shaped and shifted. They, thus, speak to the social zeitgeist. Thisbook dissects this intricate choreography.
Review Quotes: "This book is a compelling account of the ultra-serviceability of the English public school ethos and its masculinist, class-ridden and exclusionary practices. ... The result is a sociological tour de force. ... This is a monograph to savour, even if its main subjects' selfish and rampant individualism are themselves deeply unappealing." (Valerie Hey, Comparative Education, January, 2018)
