Against utopian 'perfectibilists': grassroots conservatism and education, 1970s-1980s (DOMUS Seminar)

DOMUS Seminar Series 2024-2025

Associate Professor Jessica Gerrard, Faculty of Education, University of Melbourne

At a time of intensive right-wing movements globally, this paper turns to the 1970s and 1980s to examine grassroots conservative activism in relation toeducation. Focusing on Australia, I explore how trans-national conservative activism used participatory politics as a mean to intervene into education withfocus on sex and sexuality, educational standards, and settler colonial nationhood. Drawing on archives from a large multi-faceted 3-year research project, Ireflect on the consequences of this grassroots conservatism for educational policy and practice. 

Biography

Jessica Gerrard is associate professor at the Faculty of Education (University of Melbourne). She researches the changing formations, and lived experiences, ofsocial inequalities in relation to education, activism, work and unemployment. She works across the disciplines of sociology, history and policy studies with aninterest in critical methodologies and theories.

This event is free and open to the public, staff and students.

This is a hybrid event. Registration is essential to receive the link to ZOOM. 

Please note, this seminar is not being recorded.