Conclusion: masculinity and aspiration in the era of neoliberal education

This conclusion presents some closing thoughts on the concepts covered in the preceding chapters of this book. The book examines how diverse masculinities interrelate, and how there are hierarchies within these masculine collectives where, to varying degrees, a powerful concept of a hegemonic ideal structures the logic. It shows how modalities of power are channeled—through normalizing regimes of practice—to permeate individual modes of behavior where there exists a particular form of masculinity marked out and consistently policed in order to include boys who model it and exclude boys who do not. The book deals with Connell’s concept of hegemonic masculinity while employing Bourdieu’s concept of hexis to focus on the embodied and internalized experiences that shape dispositions and aspirations. It argues that how “industrial masculinities” are imagined in post-industrial times. The book explores the connections regarding how boys contend with neoliberal educational processes, which are fundamentally about “continually changing the self, making informed choices, engaging in competition, and taking chances”