Capitalist Rationality: Comparing the Lure of the Infinite

With the use of Bruner’s concept of story, broad generalizations from the US, and political philosophy, this article suggests that comparisons between music programs throughout the world are meaningless unless we acknowledge how pervasive, insidious, and menacing is the rhetoric of the global market economy. Political philosophy is one process of inquiry that can provide a way of reflecting upon educative constructs that affect all educators. One way to begin thinking about the process of comparison is to examine educational statements from government websites throughout the world. While in many cases these statements are not referred to as manifestos, the rhetoric in use on these government sanctioned websites not only boldly states the goal of education in terms of global markets and competition but also does so by co-opting discourse that was originally intended to speak for oppressed populations.