“Winner of the J. David Greenstone Book Prize, Politics and History Section of the American Political Science Association”
“Winner of the Critics’ Choice Book Award, American Educational Studies Association”
“Honorable Mention for the Jeffrey R. Henig Best Book Award, Education Politics and Policy Section of the American Political Science Association”
“Phenomenal.”—Alice Evans, Rocking Our Priors
“A tour de force. It takes a lot of work—and even more courage—to challenge the dominant theories in your field… . That’s precisely what Paglayan has done. Analyzing an astonishing array of sources from Europe and the Americas… . Paglayan shows that the vast majority of school systems predated democratization and industrialization, and they more commonly flourished to suppress dissent at home than to rally people against a foreign enemy.”—Jonathan Zimmerman, Education Next
“Raised to Obey encourages readers to rethink conventional explanations about the origins of primary education. The book offers compelling evidence of how primary education has been utilized by the state as a tool of control. While the arguments presented by Paglayan may initially seem unsettling, she provides valuable insights that can guide the creation of more meaningful education policies in the future— insights that should not be ignored. I highly recommend Raised to Obey to anyone interested in education and state-building - it will most likely change the way you think about both things!”—Xenia Heiberg Heurlin, Weekendavisen
“A fresh perspective… . [Raised to Obey] has opened my eyes to how governments shape these systems and reminded me of the importance of staying critical and vigilant about educational policies… . While we may not be able to change the system on our own, we can still guide the younger generation around us. By teaching them to think independently and encouraging them to become active and caring members of society, we can help build a future that values growth over control.”—Sekar Sedya, Sekar Writes
“Raised to Obey is now the new standard in global educational history.”—Thomas Fallace, Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences
“Deeply reseached… . Raised to Obey is a valuable contribution to the ongoing education policy debate in the United States and beyond. It makes clear that public schooling has, in many cases, not been created primarily to empower students, but for social control. To anyone other than the biggest paternalist, that should be concerning.”—Neal McCluskey, Law and Liberty
“Bold is the scholar willing … to argue that the institution of mass schooling in the West was undertaken not to advance liberty and social progress, but rather to gain control over and indoctrinate unruly masses. This is the claim of Agustina Paglayan’s ambitious and important Raised to Obey: The Rise and Spread of Mass Education.”—Rita Koganzon, History of Education Quarterly
“An ambitious and compelling reinterpretation of the origins of modern education systems… Paglayan argues that states promoted mass schooling first and foremost to indoctrinate the masses to accept the state’s authority, and did so especially when faced with social unrest that heightened their fear of the ‘unruly’ masses… The work not only contributes to historiography and comparative education, but also offers analytical tools to rethink contemporary debates on the political function of schooling.”—Mariano Narodowski, Comparative Education
“A creatively and carefully researched book… . Highly recommended.”—Choice Reviews
“Important, innovative, and erudite… . It fully deserves and hopefully will secure a wide readership.”—David Mitch, The Independent Review
“Bold and meticulously documented… By excavating the autocratic roots of supposedly progressive institutions, Paglayan compels us to confront uncomfortable truths about how education systems were forged – and to question whether they can be reimagined to serve genuinely emancipatory purposes in the twenty-first century.”—Dennis L. Rudnick, Journal of Education Policy

Agustina S. Paglayan is assistant professor of political science at the University of California, San Diego, and nonresident fellow at the Center for Global Development. Her work has been covered by The Economist, the Washington Post, Devex, NPR, and NBC.

This item is eligible for free returns within 30 days of delivery. See our returns policy for further details.