Stealing Innocence : Youth, Corporate Power and the Politics of Culture

by Henry A. Giroux

• ISBN13: 9780312224400
• ISBN10: 0312224400
• Format: Trade Book
• Copyright: 2000-03-02
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Summary

Continuing his ongoing social critique, Henry Giroux now looks at the way corporate culture is encroaching on the lives of children by exploring three myths prevalent in our society: that the triumph of democracy is related to the triumph of the market; that children are unaffected by power and politics; that teaching and learning are no longer linked to improving the world. Looking at childhood beauty pageants, school shootings and the omnipresent nihilistic chic of advertising, Giroux paints a disturbing picture of the world surrounding our children. Ultimately, he turns to the work of Antonio Gramsci, Paulo Freire and Stuart Hall for lessons about how we can reinstitute a realistic childhood for our children.

Author Biography

Henry A. Giroux holds the Global Television Network Chair in Communications in the Faculty of Humanities at McMaster University in Canada. He is the author of many books, including Channel Surfing, The Abandoned Generation, and Take Back Higher Education.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	ix
Introduction Childhood Innocence and the Politics of Corporate Culture	1	(38)
Section I Corporate Power and the Culture of Everyday Life
Nymphet Fantasies: Child Beauty Pageants and the Politics of Innocence	39	(26)
Heroin Chic and the Politics of Seduction	65	(18)
Kids for Sale: Corporate Culture and the Challenge of Public Schooling	83	(26)
Section II Cultural Politics and Public Pedagogy
Radical Education and Culture in the Work of Antonio Gramsci	109	(28)
Paulo Freire, Prophetic Thought, and the Politics of Hope	137	(20)
Stuart Hall and the Politics of Education	157	(16)
Notes	173	(20)
Index	193