Weekly Reading Posts

 After reading "A Brief History of Neoliberalism" by David Harvey, I'm convinced that the term neoliberalism is another term for capitalism. I wasn't familiar with the nuance and inherent contradictions of neoliberalism until reading this article but the capitalist outcomes ring true given the current state of the world. Similar to the importance of teaching media literacy in classrooms, I think it's vital to teach students about the inner workings of neoliberalism as laid bare in David Harvey's article. Reason being, media literacy arms students with the ability to discern between false and reliable sources of information. Given the current climate of genocides and wars in the vein of neoliberalism, it's imperative that students apply lessons in media literacy to their understanding of power structures within a neoliberal framework. While the neoliberal stance feigns interest of the individual over the collective, lesson plans that emphasize the overall inequities suffered by both the individual and the collective under neoliberalism is necessary to critical thinking and true individual empowerment for students to be functional adults in the world later in life. Teaching David Harvey's article in the classroom could lead to restructuring of society as a whole since students would be armed with the understanding of how class, race and political ideology informs the "body politic" of this country. This understanding ultimately has the power to shape a student's personal belief system and how they may choose to show up in the world. Thus education on neoliberalism reinforces the need for equality and how students can decide to contribute to that fight as a grown adult.