"This richly theorised, fascinating ethnography of charter schools is a must-read for all those concerned about the impact of neoliberalism on schooling. In an analysis that both grips and challenges the reader, Garth Stahl uncovers the harmful consequences of privatisation on schooling in the US, setting out the corporate and managerialist policies and practices that are hollowing out public schooling not just in the US but increasingly across the globe. Ethnography of a Neoliberal School brings powerfully to life the damage wrought by educational policies that focus remorselessly on competition, individualism, and raising aspiration without recognising wider social and economic realities. In doing so it bears damning witness to neoliberalism's contributions to the injuries of class and race." --Diane Reay, Professor of Education, University of Cambridge
"In this groundbreaking book Garth Stahl combines thick ethnographic description with sociological theory to unravel the rich tapestry of everyday neoliberalisation in the post-disciplinary environment of a US charter school management organisation. Using descriptive scene-setting vignettes and personal reflections, Stahl draws our attention to the role and impact of different species of corporate logic and the enterprise form to confront the messy actualities of stealth privatisation in public education in the US, and offers penetrating insight into the contrived pedagogies, technologies of expertise, cults of efficacy, and ideologies of deliverology resulting from these machinations. Moreover, Stahl uniquely captures some of the conflicting tendencies at the heart of these reforms, namely precariousness and permanence, and explores the significance of these trends to cultivating performative workers and the smooth functioning of neoliberalisation more generally. This book is essential reading for practitioners and researchers interested in the deeper frames and
