Contradictions in the Educational Theory of Gintis and Bowles

Since its publication in 1976, Bowles and Gintis's Schooling in Capitalist America (hereinafter referred to as Schooling) has received a considerable amount of attention mostly from those sympathetic to its commitment, but critical of its economistic base/super-structure analysis. In ‘Contradiction and reproduction in educational theory’ Gintis and Bowles reply to the criticism of Schooling but limit their reply to a single question—their handling of contradictions within education and contradictions in the capitalist social formation resulting from the specific nature of the educational system. The article begins with a defence of ‘the correspondence principle’, continues with a formulation of sites and practices and concludes with an evaluation of the potential of liberal discourse.