Education and Full Employment in the Capitalocene: Political Possibilities, Ecological Imperatives

Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals

Y

11

Education Work Relationship; Monetary Systems; Relevance (Education); Conservation (Environment); Social Systems; Public Policy; Guaranteed Income; Unemployment; Neoliberalism; Employment Opportunities; Economics; Environmental Education; Politics of Education

10.1080/00958964.2023.2259838

0095-8964
1940-1892

Imagine what education would look like if upon completion every graduate was guaranteed a job paying a living wage, democratically created, doing meaningful work… This is a political possibility in most countries in the world today: Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) demonstrates that, provided a country has sovereignty over its currency, which most now do, it faces no nominal constraints on spending and can always choose to guarantee jobs and maintain full employment. Yet a pervasive feature of the neoliberal phase of the Capitalocene has been precisely the opposite: high and rising rates of un- and underemployment. This article examines the reasons for this trend and argues that its impact on education has been both unnecessary and detrimental. Finally, it suggests a strategy for educators to reverse this trend and the associated policy of economic growth, and, with reference to history, imagines what the effects such a reversal might have.

As Provided

2024

EJ1416672