NEOLIBERALISMO COMO DISCURSO. La evaluación en educación entre tecnologías políticas neoliberales y la nueva filantropía

Abstract: The paper explores how discourses about evaluation in education are being used to introduce neoliberal policy technologies and new roles that the new philanthropy is occupying in the Spanish educational policy arena. I examine how neoliberalism has been analyzed from Foucauldian and neo ‑Marxist visions to argue that analyzing neoliberalism as a discourse is a medium to reconcile both interpretations. I analyze how disciplinary mechanisms, the management of population and governmentality processes coexist in evaluation processes to extend the «neoliberal governmentality» and reform educational systems through different neoliberal policy technologies. I explore discourses from websites, articles, policies and videos where governments and private actors use arguments of educational evaluation and policy technologies to defend neoliberalism. Governments defend policy technologies such as rankings, school fairs, performance‑related pay, performance management and accountability mechanisms. «Empieza por Educar», a philanthropic foundation, is a new relevant actor in the Spanish education policy arena that elaborates neoliberalism and creates new teacher training processes integral to the corporate sector.