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Elites and Education: Caroline Benn and the Policy Intellectuals of the British Labour Party, Circa 1950–1990.

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Title: Elites and Education: Caroline Benn and the Policy Intellectuals of the British Labour Party, Circa 1950–1990.
Authors: Martin, Jane1 (AUTHOR) j.martin@bham.ac.uk
Source: British Journal of Educational Studies. Jun2025, Vol. 73 Issue 3, p283-304. 22p.
Subject Terms: *Young adults, *Elitism in education, Power (Social sciences), Intellectuals, Social engineering (Political science)
Abstract: This paper revisits and reassesses the intellectual and practical contribution of Caroline Benn (née DeCamp, 1926–2000) to politics, policymaking and practice at a crucial turning point in English education, which I call the 'long comprehensive moment' between 1950 and 1990. It articulates a strong sense that her involvement in significant public events warrants close investigation before it disappears from professional memory. The American wife of Tony Benn, one of the most influential post-war socialists in Europe, Caroline Benn stands out for her commitment to an educational system in which all young people could develop their talents to the full. Based on her newly available archive, containing thousands of documents, historically informed network ethnography is used to map her on-going effort and provide a detailed descriptive account of the ideological power and pervasiveness of the idea that a school system designed for an elite is not about social engineering, whereas comprehensive education which values all children, all parents, all neighbourhoods, equally is. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of British Journal of Educational Studies is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database: Education Research Complete
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PubType: Academic Journal
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  Data: Elites and Education: Caroline Benn and the Policy Intellectuals of the British Labour Party, Circa 1950–1990.
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Martin%2C+Jane%22">Martin, Jane</searchLink><relatesTo>1</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<i> j.martin@bham.ac.uk</i>
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22British+Journal+of+Educational+Studies%22">British Journal of Educational Studies</searchLink>. Jun2025, Vol. 73 Issue 3, p283-304. 22p.
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  Data: *<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Young+adults%22">Young adults</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Elitism+in+education%22">Elitism in education</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Power+%28Social+sciences%29%22">Power (Social sciences)</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Intellectuals%22">Intellectuals</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Social+engineering+%28Political+science%29%22">Social engineering (Political science)</searchLink>
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  Data: This paper revisits and reassesses the intellectual and practical contribution of Caroline Benn (née DeCamp, 1926–2000) to politics, policymaking and practice at a crucial turning point in English education, which I call the 'long comprehensive moment' between 1950 and 1990. It articulates a strong sense that her involvement in significant public events warrants close investigation before it disappears from professional memory. The American wife of Tony Benn, one of the most influential post-war socialists in Europe, Caroline Benn stands out for her commitment to an educational system in which all young people could develop their talents to the full. Based on her newly available archive, containing thousands of documents, historically informed network ethnography is used to map her on-going effort and provide a detailed descriptive account of the ideological power and pervasiveness of the idea that a school system designed for an elite is not about social engineering, whereas comprehensive education which values all children, all parents, all neighbourhoods, equally is. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
– Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright
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  Group: Ab
  Data: <i>Copyright of British Journal of Educational Studies is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
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RecordInfo BibRecord:
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      – Type: doi
        Value: 10.1080/00071005.2024.2399552
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      – Code: eng
        Text: English
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        PageCount: 22
        StartPage: 283
    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Young adults
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Elitism in education
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Power (Social sciences)
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Intellectuals
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Social engineering (Political science)
        Type: general
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      – TitleFull: Elites and Education: Caroline Benn and the Policy Intellectuals of the British Labour Party, Circa 1950–1990.
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              M: 06
              Text: Jun2025
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              Y: 2025
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