An Aristocracy of Everyone: The Politics of Education and the Future of America

by Benjamin R. Barber

Book Overview

In a book that fundamentally alters the terms of the current debate over education in America, Barber argues that rather than pursuing a debate defined by controversy over who should be taught, what should be taught, and how it should be paid for, Americans must address education for what it is: the well-spring of democracy in the United States. With such an education young Americans will gain nothing less than an apprenticeship in liberty--one grounded...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 019509154X
• ISBN13: 9780195091540
• Release Date: March 1994
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.5" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Striking a Balance in the Culture Wars

An Aristocracy of Everyone is absolutely the best book I have read on the culture wars and its implications for education. Dr. Barber provides a reasoned and well researched critique of both the left and the right in his analysis. His main conclusion that ultimately what is lost in the debate over what is and should be taught in our schools is the fundamental lesson that an appreciation for democracy and civic engagement is the most critical outcome for our education system. Barber, along with others such as Harry Boyte, Robert Putnam, and Robert Bellah are the key leaders in the movement to revitalize our American Democracy and the need for greater civic engagement. This book provides the essential philosophical arguments for the civic movement that sustains the vision of Dr. King and the Civil Rights movement.