Abstract: In this essay, Kathy Hytten and Kurt Stemhagen explore the evasion of race, particularly implicit whiteness, in democratic theory. The authors maintain that democratic theorists, especially those who write about education, avoid discussions of race, often writing in universal terms about democracy while ignoring the ways that ostensibly democratic societies reproduce white supremacy. Hytten and Stemhagen begin by describing critiques of the whiteness of democracy; next, they draw on three different approaches to democracy — decolonial, abolitionist, and Black pragmatist — to explore how we can work to disentangle the workings of democracy from racism. Significantly, all of the approaches they address center the voices of scholars of color and each one provides specific charges, resources, and tools for doing democracy differently and in ways that are explicitly antiracist.
Abstract: Throughout the past several decades, there has been an abundance of research about school reform, particularly in schools predominated by students of color and students experiencing poverty. Critics acknowledge that many reform efforts have failed and comprehensive solutions to school change remain elusive. In this article, we provide an overview of prominent school reform efforts and describe some of the ideological problems inherent in these dominant approaches—particularly the abstract, one-size-fits-all vision of reform that they are premised upon. Then, we explore the potential of critical race feminism (CRF) as a framework through which we might cultivate transformative social justice-oriented change in schools. We suggest that CRF is a relatively untapped resource in school reform efforts that may help us to rethink reform in general, specifically by dislodging some of our taken-for-granted assumptions and offering us principles for school change. Finally, we give examples of counternarratives based on CRF principles that reflect the kind of critical, fluid, nonhierarchical approach to change needed to disrupt the status quo of inequitable, reproductive schooling.
Abstract: This essay stems from previously reported critical ethnographic data regarding educators participating in graduate‐level classes on whiteness. The metaphor of “faces of whiteness” is adopted here to signify that individuals occupy particular stances toward White privilege and its consequences in a dynamic and nonlinear fashion. The Torpified face represents individuals who are stunned by new realizations and rising guilt regarding race. The Missionary face seeks to intervene in others' racial consciousness without adequate reflection and self‐knowledge. The Cynic face regards racial barriers as too intransigent to warrant action. The Intellectualizer face articulates knowledge about whiteness but uses expert status to distance active engagement. The Critical Democrat face, in contrast to the other four, abides and thrives on the tensions between reflection and action, speaking out and listening, guilt and agency. Notwithstanding critiques of White Western conceptions of democracy, the Critical Democrat face of whiteness is well suited as a stepping stone toward multicultural understanding.
No available abstract
Abstract: Overviews the field of cultural studies of education. The four fundamental assumptions of the field are discussed: culture as dynamic; no absolute distinction between high & low culture; culture & power as linked; & the importance of transcending disciplinary boundaries. Methods & strategies of cultural studies practitioners are described. The potential impact of cultural studies on the arena of educational studies is highlighted. It is concluded that cultural studies does more than challenge the long-accepted tenets of other disciplines; it provides a framework with which to view teaching as a form of cultural production influenced by structures & relationships of power.