Losing collective memory: What postmodernists forget

Educational life at universities has been characterised by conservatism. Even though the current administration in Washington may try to rein in some of the excesses of the rightist social agenda (though it too is moving perceptibly to the right), the terms of debate and the existing economic and social conditions have been transformed remarkably in a conservative direction. We should not be romantic about what will happen at our schools and universities, especially given the fiscal crisis of the state and the acceptance of major aspects of the conservative social and economic agenda within both major political parties in the United States. Let me situate the experiences of teachers and students in this time of conservatism within the larger transformation in education and the wider society that the conservative alliance has attempted.