The convergence of late neoliberalism and post-pandemic scientific optimism in the configuration of scientistic learnification

Abstract

The forces of neoliberalism have profoundly reconfigured the landscape of educational policy and discourse, shifting focus from democratic values-based conceptions to exigencies for effective learning. The onset of the global recession of 2008, coupled with the ongoing effects of the global pandemic have resulted in the centring of crises discourses as fundamental to state strategies for educational policy. This paper adopts the theoretical conception of “late neoliberalism”, structured through assemblage theory, to discuss the significance of these impacts in Irish education, with references to the United Kingdom and international contexts as appropriate, reflecting the globalising force of neoliberalism. In so doing, I also draw on perspectives from Leo Strauss’ considerations of political philosophy with its critique of liberal society in order to refocus attention on the undercurrent ideology of scientism, which is masked in attempts to establish veils of neutrality in the knowledge basis of educational policy reformation. I argue that the recent crises have intensified the scientistic ideology that underpins a number of policy moves drawing on examples from both national and international contexts. I conclude the discussion by drawing upon Biesta's critical analysis of the learnification agenda in order to present the challenge of becoming “redemocratised” in our orientations to educational discourses.