The main emphasis of this collection of articles is on the general social contexts in which schools are embedded: the relationship between the dominant form of economic organization, and the structure and process of schooling. The overall orientation is broadly, but by no means exclusively, Marxist. Most of the authors represented see education as a form of social reproduction or of social control.

The selection includes examples of the important and rapidly growing ‘political economy’ approach to the sociology of education, while the increasing interest in the social and political origins of educational provision is reflected in a number of studies (most not previously published) of the development of education as a form of social control in Britain. Further sections contain critiques of liberal policies and practices in education, and of the role played by ‘scientific’ psychological theories in legitimating social inequalities through schooling. The final two sections deal with studies of the curriculum as a means of cultural reproduction, and theoretical analyses of the part played by schooling in maintaining cultural hegemony.

Brought together for The Open University course, Schooling and Society, these articles should also prove valuable to anyone interested in the educational system in its broad social context.