This exciting new major work turns the spotlight on social theory and education research, taking a look at key thinkers and setting out the relevance of their ideas to education. Esteemed editor Mark Murphy provides a keen-eyed overview of the theories of Derrida, Bourdieu, Foucault and Habermas, in relation to four key education issues. While the influence of these thinkers has grown considerably over the last number of years, both their original work and its application to education can prove challenging to the educational practitioner.