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Cultural Studies of Science Education

, Volume 12, Issue 4, pp 821–834 | Cite as

NGSS, disposability, and the ambivalence of science in/under neoliberalism

  • Matthew Weinstein
Original Paper
First Online:

Abstract

This paper explores the ambivalence of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and its Framework towards neoliberal governance. The paper examines the ways that the NGSS serves as a mechanism within neoliberal governance: in its production of disposable populations through testing and through the infusion of engineering throughout the NGSS to resolve social problems through technical fixes. However, the NGSS, like earlier standards, is reactionary to forces diminishing the power of institutional science (e.g., the AAAS) including neoliberal prioritizing market value over evidence. The NGSS explicitly takes on neoliberal junk science such as the anti-global-warming Heartland Institute.

Keywords

Biopolitics Standardization NGSS Neoliberalism Resistance Disposability Ethics 
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Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2017

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Education ProgramUniversity of WashingtonTacomaUSA

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