Paul Goodman (1911–1972) was an American writer, social critic, and anarchist whose work on education, youth culture, and urban planning argued that institutional structures — particularly schools — stifle human development rather than support it.
Core ideas
- Compulsory miseducation: in Compulsory Mis-Education (1964), Goodman argued that compulsory schooling damages young people by confining them in institutions that suppress curiosity, enforce conformity, and prepare them for meaningless work rather than meaningful participation in social life.
- Growing up absurd: Growing Up Absurd (1960) examined how American society fails young men (Goodman’s focus was narrow in this regard) by offering no worthy goals or communities. The education system, rather than providing a path to meaningful engagement, channels people into a corporate economy that does not need them.
- Decentralized education: Goodman advocated for community-based, small-scale educational arrangements — apprenticeships, informal schools, learning integrated with productive work — as alternatives to the centralized school system.
Notable works
- Growing Up Absurd (1960)
- Compulsory Mis-Education (1964)
- Communitas: Means of Livelihood and Ways of Life (1947, with Percival Goodman)
- The Community of Scholars (1962)
Related
- anarchist pedagogies — the tradition his educational criticism belongs to
- Ivan Illich — a contemporary critic of institutional schooling with parallel arguments