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Key pedagogic thinkers: Jean Baudrillard

  • James D. Williams
    ,
  • Robert E. Allinson
  • Soka University of America
Research Output: Contribution to journal Article Peer-review

Open access

Abstract

Jean Baudrillard was born in Reims, France, in 1929, and completed his undergraduate work at the Sorbonne, taking a degree in German. Upon graduation, he taught high school. In the early 1960s, he began graduate studies at the University of Paris, Nanterre, earning his doctorate in sociology in 1966. Baudrillard published 30 books in which he examined various facets of modern society: gender, race, consumerism, politics, the media, and so forth. His focus was semiological—how objects and signs reflect the current human condition. Although Baudrillard did not write about education, his work is nevertheless relevant if we recognize that our educational system is a reflection of society. A Baudrillardian perspective raises the following question: What effect has consumerism had on education? To address this question, we offer some background information related to Baudrillard’s philosophical inquiries. This is followed by our brief analysis of how Baudrillard’s work may provide some potential answers to the above question and of how it can help us interpret the changes that have occurred in education during the modern period. We give special emphasis to The Consumer Society and Simulacra and Simulation.

Publication Information

Output type

Research Output: Contribution to journal Article Peer-review

Original language

English

Journal (Volume, Issue Number)

Journal of pedagogic development

Publication milestones

  • Published - 06/2016

Publication status

Published - 06/2016

ISSN

2047-3265

External Publication IDs

  • handle.net: 10547/611816

Access to documents

317-827-1-SM.pdf, opens in new tab
Final published version, 386.48 KB