Michael S. Merry is professor of philosophy in the department of Child Development and Education. Before entering the strange world of academia, he spent years as a laborer in a warehouse, a brickyard, a concrete plant, a waste management company, and also worked as a landscaper, a dishwasher, a roofer, a truck driver and a nighttime security officer. Well into his twenties, he then received a broad education in the humanities in Atlanta, Chicago, Leuven and New York. Later still, after some years of teaching, he earned his doctorate by combining philosophy and educational policy studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Over the years 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 issues, and often through a comparative-international frame, he specializes in any of the following:
Beyond his academic research, he also is a frequent contributor to political debates in Dutch, Belgian and other international media. He has been interviewed, inter alia, by De Groene Amsterdammer, Folia, Phronesis, De Morgen, Didactief, Knack, Algemeen Dagblad, Verus and AT5. Recent examples of his social criticism include:
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/
Daklozen moet je beschermen, desnoods tegen hun zin. Sociale Vraagstukken https://www.socialevraagstukken.nl/daklozen-moet-je-beschermen-desnoods-tegen-hun-zin/
Geef jongeren stemrecht, maar leer ze eerst verantwoord te stemmen. Trouw https://www.trouw.nl/opinie/opinie-geef-jongeren-stemrecht-maar-leer-ze-eerst-verantwoord-te-stemmen~b89161de/?referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F
Zijn structurele investeringen in het onderwijs de oplossing voor ongelijkheid? 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/
Onrecht, whataboutism en het belang van morele consistentie. Joop https://www.bnnvara.nl/joop/artikelen/onrecht-whataboutism-en-het-belang-van-morele-consistentie
Discussie in de klas? Als alle standpunten gelijk zijn, leert niemand kritisch denken. Knack https://www.knack.be/nieuws/belgie/onderwijs/discussie-in-de-klas-als-alle-standpunten-gelijk-zijn-leert-niemand-kritisch-denken/
Zelfbeschikking bij raamprostitutie? Sociale Vraagstukken https://www.socialevraagstukken.nl/zelfbeschikking-bij-raamprostitutie/
Ga weg met die achterstanden. Didactief https://didactiefonline.nl/artikel/ga-weg-met-die-achterstanden
Is burgerschapsvorming een legitieme taak van de school? Knack https://www.knack.be/nieuws/is-burgerschapsvorming-een-legitieme-taak-van-de-school/
Compensatoir toetsen komt kwaliteit hoger onderwijs niet ten goede. Science Guide https://philarchive.org/rec/MERCTK
Diversiteit: hard werken en engelengeduld. Folia https://www.folia.nl/opinie/104816/diversiteit-hard-werken-en-engelengeduld
Het onderwijssysteem is niet de oplossing voor de problemen die het zelf veroorzaakt. Het Parool https://www.parool.nl/columns-opinie/opinie-het-onderwijssysteem-is-niet-de-oplossing-voor-de-problemen-die-het-zelf-veroorzaakt~b877364f/
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
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
(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)
When should the patriot abandon their country? Public Affairs Quarterly 39 (3): 260-282. (with Alfred Archer) https://www.press.uillinois.edu/journals/?id=paq
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
Self-determination on indigenous terms: Tribal colleges as institutional site of healing and resilience. Tribal College and University Research Journal 8: 41-63 (with Cynthia Lindquist). https://collegefund.org/research/tcurj/
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
Can schools fairly select their students? Theory and Research in Education 16 (3): 330-350 (with Richard Arum). https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1477878518801752
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
Solving the 'gypsy problem': D.H. et al. versus the Czech Republic. Comparative Education Review 54 (3): 393-414 (with William New ). https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/652857
Can schools teach citizenship? Discourse 41 (1): 124-138. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01596306.2018.1488242
Risk, harm and intervention: The case of child obesity. Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy 17 (2): 191-200 (with Kristin Voigt) https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11019-013-9531-z
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
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
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
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
Segregation and civic virtue. Educational Theory 62 (4): 465-486. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1741-5446.2012.00457.x
Access to all of my publications can be found here: