Page 7 - Šolsko polje, XXVIII, 2017, no. 3-4: Education and the American Dream, ed. Mitja Sardoč
P. 7
Education and the American Dream
Mitja Sardoč
As a central element of American culture, the American Dream is
said to represent a distilled version of basic American values and
the single most important emancipatory ideal associated with
the American ‘way of life’. As Jennifer L Hochschild emphasized in her
book Facing Up to the American Dream, it represents ‘a central ideolo-
gy of Americans […], a defining characteristic of American culture’ (Ho-
chschild, 1995: p. xi). In fact, both in the US and abroad, the American
Dream constitutes a symbol of progress and has been synonymous with
hope in general. Moreover, throughout history, its progressive idealism
has had a galvanizing influence on a number of emancipatory social pro-
jects, e.g. the Civil Rights movement. At the same time, its promise of up-
ward social mobility [firmly grounded in the merit-based idea of equal
opportunity] encapsulates best the idea of non-discrimination and fair-
ness that stand at the very center of social phenomena as diverse as raci-
al desegregation, the ‘war for talent’, migrations, educational reforms etc.
The voluminous literature on the American Dream in disciplines
as diverse as sociology (Hauhart, 2016), political science (Ghosh, 2013;
Hochschild, 1995; Jillson, 2016), the economy (Shaanan, 2010; Stiglitz,
2013), migration studies (Clark, 2003), history (Cullen, 2003), advertising
(Samuel, 2001), cultural studies (Lasch, 1996; Lawrence, 2012), linguistics
(Fischer, 1973), religious studies (D’Antonio, 2011), anthropology (Dun-
can, 2015), literary studies (Churchwell, 2013), educational theory (DeVi-
tis & Rich, 1996) as well as philosophy (Cannon, 2003; Peters, 2012; San-
del, 1996), points out that the idea of the American Dream is far from
simple or unproblematic. In fact, as Robert Hauhart emphasizes in his
5
Mitja Sardoč
As a central element of American culture, the American Dream is
said to represent a distilled version of basic American values and
the single most important emancipatory ideal associated with
the American ‘way of life’. As Jennifer L Hochschild emphasized in her
book Facing Up to the American Dream, it represents ‘a central ideolo-
gy of Americans […], a defining characteristic of American culture’ (Ho-
chschild, 1995: p. xi). In fact, both in the US and abroad, the American
Dream constitutes a symbol of progress and has been synonymous with
hope in general. Moreover, throughout history, its progressive idealism
has had a galvanizing influence on a number of emancipatory social pro-
jects, e.g. the Civil Rights movement. At the same time, its promise of up-
ward social mobility [firmly grounded in the merit-based idea of equal
opportunity] encapsulates best the idea of non-discrimination and fair-
ness that stand at the very center of social phenomena as diverse as raci-
al desegregation, the ‘war for talent’, migrations, educational reforms etc.
The voluminous literature on the American Dream in disciplines
as diverse as sociology (Hauhart, 2016), political science (Ghosh, 2013;
Hochschild, 1995; Jillson, 2016), the economy (Shaanan, 2010; Stiglitz,
2013), migration studies (Clark, 2003), history (Cullen, 2003), advertising
(Samuel, 2001), cultural studies (Lasch, 1996; Lawrence, 2012), linguistics
(Fischer, 1973), religious studies (D’Antonio, 2011), anthropology (Dun-
can, 2015), literary studies (Churchwell, 2013), educational theory (DeVi-
tis & Rich, 1996) as well as philosophy (Cannon, 2003; Peters, 2012; San-
del, 1996), points out that the idea of the American Dream is far from
simple or unproblematic. In fact, as Robert Hauhart emphasizes in his
5
