Co-sponsored by Division 59: Education Politics and Policy
In-Person Author Meets Critics
Participants:
- (Chair) Beatriz Magaloni, Stanford University
- (Presenter) Agustina S. Paglayan, UCSD
- (Presenter) Omar Wasow, UC Berkeley
- (Presenter) Robert A. Blair, Brown University
- (Presenter) Steven Levitsky, Harvard University
- (Presenter) Pablo Beramendi, Duke University
Session Description:
Western countries are experiencing a potentially defining moment in human history: Will liberal democracy survive the current resurgence of authoritarianism? Will liberal education survive the ongoing culture wars and the intensification of indoctrination efforts? Or are these recent trends heralding the emergence of a new post-liberal world order?
Join Agustina Paglayan (UCSD), Beatriz Magaloni (Stanford), Margaret Levi (Stanford), Omar Wasow (UC Berkeley), Robert Blair (Brown), and Steven Levitsky (Harvard) for a timely and provocative discussion of Paglayan’s recent book, Raised to Obey: The Rise and Spread of Mass Education (Princeton University Press, 2024) — and what it suggests about these questions and challenges.
“Raised to Obey” offers a powerful lens to reconsider the origins of one of society’s most universal institutions — primary education — and its relationship to crises of power, governance, and social order. Drawing on new evidence from two centuries of education provision in Europe and the Americas, Paglayan demonstrates that elites expanded access to primary education not to promote equality, democracy, industrialization, or even a common national identity, but to instill unquestioned obedience to the state and its laws. The book shows that efforts to increase the state’s capacity to forge social order through indoctrination are particularly likely to intensify when elites face mass unrest, internal threats against the status quo, and fears of a breakdown of social order. Today, the original objective of disciplining children remains at the core of how most schools operate. This unsettling truth challenges conventional wisdom about the relationship between the state, democracy, and modern education, and sheds light on the enduring role of schools as tools of social control rather than equality or liberation.
In this panel, a diverse group of scholars will explore the forward-looking implications of “Raised to Obey” for perennial and pressing debates about politics and power: How does the book reshape our understanding of the sources of political power? What insights does it offer for debates about democratic erosion and why democracies often fall short of delivering progressive redistribution? What lessons does it offer for civil society organizations and foreign actors seeking to advance democracy and consolidate peace in post-conflict settings? How does “Raised to Obey” help us understand and respond to today’s curriculum and culture wars, debates over indoctrination, and attacks on academic freedom? Finally, what insights does it offer for the future of education systems? Can education systems move beyond their origins in social control to fulfill their potential as tools for strengthening democracy and promoting equality?
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