Resistance and Relative Autonomy Theories: problems of distortion and incoherence in recent Marxist analyses of education

Abstract This article takes issue with the claims of Arnot and in incoherent theories of relative autonomy which attempt to demonstrate the simultaneous autonomy and dependence of schooling. At the end of the article, it is proposed that theoretical openness and empirical rigour can only be developed within a value‐free analysis of schooling and capitalism, and that this will entail the suspension of political commitments during the course of the analysis. Contrary to the usual Marxist critique of ‘value‐freedom’ it is also argued that such a ‘value‐free’ sociology of education is quite compatible with socialist theory and practice.