Recent readings of social reproduction: Four fundamental problematics

Abstract

Since the inception of the discipline, social reproduction has been arguably the central theme in the sociology of education. Much, if not most, work in the field has been implicitly informed by a theory of social reproduction even where there has not been an explicit engagement with the concept. In recent years ideas about social reproduction have become more sophisticated, as sociologists have attempted to grapple with and respond to some of the weaknesses in earlier, radical left theories of social reproduction (weaknesses which were first discussed in debates about the concept in the early 1980s). In this article, we want to identify some of the key questions and problematics brought to the surface by these more recent and more sophisticated readings of social reproduction. These problematics, we suggest, all reflect shifts in dominant conceptions of knowledge and the social world, and of the relationship between sociological knowledge and agency, and they have important ethical as well as epistemological implications for reproduction theory.

Schooling: The Way People See It

“…Cultural production, on the other hand, argues for the agency in the actor that contest and reject those structures. However, reproduction and production are not to be understood as discrete and opposite processes (Gewirtz & Cribb, 2003).…”

“…However, confl ict theories have defi ned schooling as an elitist project which tries to implant the legitimised local and national knowledges, values and norms -described as cultural capital -upon those who are subordinated (Dillabough, 2003;Gewirtz & Cribb, 2003;Jeff rey, Jeff ery &Jeff ery, 2005;Robbins, 2005Robbins, , 2007. Bourdieu saw schooling as a mechanism contributing towards "reproducing the structure of relations between the classes by reproducing the unequal class distribution of cultural capital" (Bourdieu & Passeron, 1970/1990.…”

School, images of the futures and social processes in classrooms

“…For example, four fundamental problematics of reproduction theories are listed by Gewirtz and Cribbs and refer to the incapacity of reproduction theories to give a convincing account of social change, to relate ''local and contingent explanations and grander more universal accounts of social reproduction'', to inform about the role of agency in social processes, to adopt a reflexive stance on researcher's normative accounts of reproduction. This led to a gradual shift toward a greater attention to the concrete educational and social context and to the deployment of micro-social relations among actors [33].…”

From Controlling to Constructive: Youth Unemployment Policy in Australia and The Netherlands

“…An "immersion in the practical world, with all its hazards, confusions and unforeseen developments" (Shalin, 1992: 266) helps to 'test' and clarify meanings and politics. Gewirtz (2003) referred to this as 'glocal' accounts, which reject the universalism and determinism of earlier 'grand theories' in favour of more complex, dynamic and context specific studies, without neglecting broader societal forces.…”