Michael S. Merry is professor of philosophy in the department of Child Development and Education. He received a broad education in the humanities in Chicago, Leuven and New York before earning his doctorate by combining philosophy and educational policy studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He has been visiting fellow at several universities, including Bristol University, New York University and Brown University.
Though he writes on a wide variety of topics, and often through a comparative-international frame, he specializes in any of the following: the various features of educational injustice, both institutional and non-institutional; state paternalism and the ethics of intervention; the politics and epistemology of academic research; the ethics of school choice and school segregation, citizenship and civic education, religion and religious schools, and alternative education in its manifold forms.
He is a frequent contributor to societal debates in Dutch, Belgian and other international media. Recent examples include:
Daklozen moet je beschermen, desnoods tegen hun zin. Sociale Vraagstukken https://www.socialevraagstukken.nl/daklozen-moet-je-beschermen-desnoods-tegen-hun-zin/
Waarom doen we zo weinig tegen discriminatie aan de universiteit? NRC Handelsblad https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2024/08/04/waarom-doen-we-zo-weinig-tegen-discriminatie-aan-de-universiteit-a4861710
Het onderwijs maakt lang niet van elk dubbeltje een kwartje. Het Parool https://www.parool.nl/columns-opinie/het-onderwijs-maakt-lang-niet-van-elk-dubbeltje-een-kwartje~b04f1d25/?referrer=https://www.google.com/
Onrecht, whataboutism en het belang van morele consistentie. Joop https://www.bnnvara.nl/joop/artikelen/onrecht-whataboutism-en-het-belang-van-morele-consistentie
Zelfbeschikkiing bij raamprostitutie? Sociale Vraagstukken https://www.socialevraagstukken.nl/zelfbeschikking-bij-raamprostitutie/
Internationale vergelijkingen kunnen op verschillende manieren ook problematisch zijn. Knack 'Internationale vergelijkingen kunnen op verschillende manieren ook problematisch zijn'
Ga weg met die achterstanden. Didactief https://didactiefonline.nl/artikel/ga-weg-met-die-achterstanden
Volharden dat onderwijs gelijke kansen biedt, is moreel dubieus. De Volkskrant https://www.volkskrant.nl/columns-opinie/volharden-dat-onderwijs-gelijke-kansen-biedt-is-moreel-dubieus~ba3abdb3/?referrer=https://www.google.com/
Wat is de waarde van een doctoraat in Nederland? Joop https://www.bnnvara.nl/joop/artikelen/wat-is-de-waarde-van-een-doctoraat-in-nederland
Is burgerschapsvorming een legitieme taak van de school? Knack https://www.knack.be/nieuws/is-burgerschapsvorming-een-legitieme-taak-van-de-school/
Nee, 20 miljard euro heeft ongelijkheid in onderwijs niet opgelost – en meer geld zal dat ook niet doen. De Volkskrant https://www.volkskrant.nl/columns-opinie/opinie-nee-20-miljard-euro-heeft-ongelijkheid-in-onderwijs-niet-opgelost-en-meer-geld-zal-dat-ook-niet-doen~b75842a49/
Zijn meer leraren wel de oplossing voor de onderwijscrisis? Het Parool https://www.parool.nl/columns-opinie/zijn-meer-leraren-wel-de-oplossing-voor-de-onderwijscrisis~b42a89ae/
Mocht Plato zien wat er van de universiteit geworden is, dan zou hij stomverbaasd en bezorgd zijn. Knack https://www.knack.be/nieuws/belgie/onderwijs/mocht-plato-zien-wat-er-van-de-universiteit-geworden-is-dan-zou-hij-stomverbaasd-en-bezorgd-zijn/
Beeldenstormers hebben gelijk: beeld Jan Pieterzoon Coen moet weg. Sociale Vraagstukken https://www.socialevraagstukken.nl/waarom-de-beeldenstormers-gewoon-gelijk-hebben/
Indoctrinatie of stigmatisering? Didactief https://didactiefonline.nl/blog/blonz/indoctrinatie-of-stigmatisering
(2020) Educational Justice: Liberal ideals, persistent inequality and the constructive uses of critique. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
(2013) Equality, Citizenship and Segregation: A defense of separation. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
(2007) Culture, Identity and Islamic Schooling: A philosophical approach. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
(2016) Maussen, M., Vermeulen, F., Bader, V., & Merry, M. Religious Schools in Europe: institutional opportunitities and contemporary challenges (London: Routledge)
(2012) Merry, M, Oulali, I, Steutel, J. & Levering, B. Segregatie in onderwijs en samenleving (Amsterdam: SWP).
(2010) Merry, M. & Milligan, J. Citizenship, Identity and Education in Muslim Communities: essays on attachment and obligation (New York: Palgrave Macmillan)
Self-determination on indigenous terms: Tribal colleges as institutional site of resilience. Tribal College and University Research Journal (with Cynthia Lindquist) Tribal College and University Research Journal | American Indian College Fund
Can schools and libraries curb the functional illiteracy crisis? Insights from the Netherlands. Critical Studies in Education. Online Early (with Rianne van Melik) https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17508487.2024.2418105?src=exp-la
Caught in a school choice quandary: What should en equity-minded parent do? Theory and Research in Education https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/14778785231180469
Should the homeless be forcibly helped? Public Health Ethics 12 (1): 30-43 (with Bart van Leeuwen) https://academic.oup.com/phe/article/12/1/30/4944889
The public library as social Infrastructure: A Dutch illustration. Social and Cultural Geography 24 (5): 758-777 (with Rianne van Melik) https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14649365.2021.1965195
Majority-minority educational success sans integration: A comparative-international view. The Review of Black Political Economy 50 (2): 194-221 (with Orhan Agirdag) https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/00346446221120825
Democratic deliberation in the absence of integration. In The Cambridge Handbook of Democratic Education (pp. 230-249), J.Culp, D. Yacek & J. Drerup, eds. Cambridge University Press. https://philarchive.org/rec/MERDDI
What is an appropriate educational response to controversial historical monuments? Journal of Philosophy of Education 55 (3): 484-497 (with Anders Schinkel) https://academic.oup.com/jope/article/55/3/484/6821509
Educational inequality and state-sponsored elite schools: The case of the Dutch gymnasium. Comparative Education 56 (4): 522-546 (with Willem Boterman) https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03050068.2020.1771872
Community, virtue and the white British poor. Dialogues in Human Geography 6 (1): 50-68 (with David Manley & Richard Harris) https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2043820615624603
The Catholic school advantage and common school effect examined: a comparison of Muslim immigrants and native pupils in Flanders. School Effectiveness and School Improvement 28 (1): 123-135 (with Orhan Agirdag & Geert Driessen) Full article: The Catholic school advantage and common school effect examined: a comparison between Muslim immigrant and native pupils in Flanders
Risk, harm and intervention: the case of child obesity. Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy 17 (2): 191-200 (with Kristin Voigt) Risk, harm and intervention: the case of child obesity | Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy
Equality, self-respect and voluntary separation. Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy (15) 1, 79-100. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13698230.2010.528239
Educational justice and the gifted. Theory and Research in Education (6) 1: 47-70. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1477878507086730
Should the state fund religious schools? Journal of Applied Philosophy (24) 3: 255-270. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1468-5930.2007.00380.x
Social exclusion of Muslim youth in Flemish- and French-speaking Belgian schools. Comparative Education Review (49) 1: 1-22. https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/426158
Libertarian bioethics and religion. Bioethics 18 (5): 387-407 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-8519.2004.00406.x
Access to all of my publications can be found here: