Publications and Research
Document Type
Working Paper
Publication Date
2020
Abstract
This paper aims to construct a framework for understanding the causes and dynamics of the wave of teacher strikes that took place in 2018-19. To do this, the paper first analyzes the constraints under which the state managers function and describes the relationship between the state and public education. Second, it summarizes a theoretical framework for understanding the Great Recession and describes the influence of neoliberal policy orthodoxy on the reaction to the Great Recession. Third, it provides empirical evidence that displays how following the Great Recession, the constraints of the state actors and implementation of certain policies reduced spending on public education which led to a decrease in teachers’ salaries. Fourth, it summarizes the history of teacher strikes in the 1970s and 2010s and briefly compares these two waves. I conclude that unless teachers continue to engage in class struggle, neoliberal austerity imposed by the state will continue.