Challenges to Democracy In and Beyond Education

This book explores political cynicism as a driving force at the heart of the current crisis of democracy in the United States, focusing on the crisis and the role of education, popular culture, and news media in fostering and fighting cynicism.

Autorentext

Richard Van Heertum is a full-time faculty member in the Liberal Arts and Sciences department at the New York Film Academy. He has previously taught at UCLA, CUNY, Drexel and the Art Institute, USA.

Inhalt

Introduction 1. Defining Cynicism: The Roots of a Political Disease 2. The Shifting Political Discourse: Do What I Say, Not What I Do 3. Inequality, Racism and the Psychology of Cynicism: White Resentment and Neopopulism Unite 4. The Scourge of Fake News (Aka Propaganda is Winning the War on Truth) 5. Educating Intolerance and Commodifying Knowledge: Schools in the Culture Wars' Firing Line 6. Higher Education under Attack on Multiple Fronts: Neoliberalism, Neopopulism and the Cloistering of Knowledge 7. Representatives of the Political Subject in Popular Culture: Cultivating Cynicism through Our Heroes and Villains 8. Corporate Hegemony and the Struggle to Control the American Mind 9. Contesting Cynicism and Restoring Hope