The New Political Economy of Urban Education

by Pauline Lipman

Urban education and its contexts have changed in powerful ways. Old paradigms are being eclipsed by global forces of privatization and markets and new articulations of race, class, and urban space. These factors and more set the stage for Pauline Lipman's insightful analysis of the relationship between education policy and the neoliberal economic, political, and ideological processes that are reshaping cities in the United States and around the globe. Using Chicago as a case study of the interconnectedness of neoliberal urban policies on housing, economic development, race, and education, Lipman explores larger implications for equity, justice, and "the right to the city". She draws on scholarship in critical geography, urban sociology and anthropology, education policy, and critical analyses of race. Her synthesis of these lenses gives added weight to her critical appraisal and hope for the future, offering a significant contribution to current arguments about urban schooling and how we think about relations between neoliberal education reforms and the transformation of cities. By examining the cultural politics of why and how these relationships resonate with people's lived experience, Lipman pushes the analysis one step further toward a new educational and social paradigm rooted in radical political and economic democracy.

Genres: Education, Nonfiction, Race, Academic, School, Politics, Social Justice

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

Pauline Lipman is professor of Educational Policy Studies and Director of the Collaborative for Equity and Justice in Education at the University of Illinois Chicago's College of Education. Her teaching, research, and activism grow out of her commitment to social justice and liberation. Her interdisciplinary research focuses on race and class inequality in education, globalization, and political economy of urban education, particularly the inter-relationship of education policy, urban restructuring, and the politics of race. Pauline is the author of numerous journal articles, book chapters, and policy reports. Her The New Political Economy of Urban Education: Neoliberalism, Race, and the Right to the City argues that education is integral to neoliberal economic and spatial urban restructuring and its class and race inequalities and exclusions as well as to the potential for a new, radically democratic economic and political social order. High Stakes Education and Race, Class and Power in School Restructuring received American Education Studies Association, Critics Choice Awards. In 2011, she received the American Education Research Association Distinguished Contribution to Social Contexts in Education Research, Lifetime Achievement Award.

Pauline is a member of the leadership body of Teachers for Social Justice – Chicago and is active in coalitions of teachers and community organizations. She is a co-director of the Data and Democracy Project and has co-led various collaborations with community organizations to produce policy reports that bring to light educational injustices and community-driven programs to transform urban schools. In 2012 she collaborated with the Kenwood Oakland Community Organization to support the Journey for Justice campaign for sustainable school transformation (supported by the Institute for Research on Race and Public Policy). She is Principal Investigator of a community research-public engagement project documenting effects of school closings on students, families, and communities in Chicago (supported by College of Education and Institute for Policy and Civic Engagement). She is a frequent contributor to community forums of parents and teachers in Chicago and nationally.

Reviews

[Bob Simpson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pauline Lipman must have been one helluva jigsaw puzzle wiz as a kid, because she can put together the complex puzzle of why a school closing on Chicago's West Side is related to the global securities market as well as the neo-liberal assault on public education nationwide.

She sees the how the shattering of city neighborhoods and the closing of neighborhood schools is related to capital accumulation, gentrification and the pathological white supremacy still pushed by an economic elite to seize control of entire American cities through merciless divide and conquer tactics. She shows how parents, students and teachers make compromises to survive even when they understand the nature of their enemy. She also understands the strengths and weaknesses of the working class resistance movement that seeks an educational system that liberates rather than represses the best of the human spirit.

This is not a quick and easy read and if you are looking for simple answers to all of the questions posed, forget it. Pauline is much too smart for that. Instead she points us in the direction of learning through collective struggle and study. Her book is one more guide post along the way, a damned good one, but more need to be constructed. Her book takes us closer to a new educational system within a new society, but the journey is long and time is short. Yes, another world is not only possible, it is necessary.

[Natalia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I recommend this book to folks who care about cities and education. Pauline Lipman powerfully and succinctly outlines how urban school reform has contributed to the neoliberal agenda to restructure cities in ways that privilege white middle class residents while dis-investing in communities of color. She uses Chicago as her case study, but the story rings true in places like Philadelphia and New Orleans as well, and has often followed Chicago's model of privatization and cuts. I appreciate that Lipman's analysis is situated in history without being overwhelming, and considers the acomplicated dynamics of why certain neoliberal restructurings (e.g. charter schools) may appeal to urban parents and teachers. A great short read that will make you more informed, angry and perhaps a little more hopeful, if only in ability to wage more pointed critiques.

[BookLoving · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lipman discusses the apparent and underlying implications of converting urban schools into charter schools and accentuates the nexus of urban public-school privatization, public housing, race, and socioeconomic status. Lipman seems to thoroughly assess the opinions of teachers, charter school representatives, parents, and students affected by changes in Chicago, and makes a correlation of Chicago’s reform to New Orleans education system modifications brought on by Hurricane Katrina, which gave New Orleans the ability to initiate rebuilding from a clean
educational slate (whether this had positive or negative implications remains to be investigated). Lipman takes a strong approach at advocating for her sense of right against the reform presented by Chicago’s mayor, state and federal representatives, and certain philanthropic
organizations pouring millions into charter schools.

This book is a great read for educators in rural, urban, and suburban school districts. It helps to know about the education system experiences of areas different from our own. It would serve as an enlightening read for policy makers and philanthropists.

[Emma Refvem · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lipman does a great job outlining the ways in which Neoliberal policies are reinforcing structural inequalities and negatively impacting education in the US. She does a better job outlining the problems than providing solutions, but I didn’t really expect many solutions to be honest. I read this to hopefully inform my future research even though it is more ed policy focused than what I will probably end up doing.

[D.M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I consider the reporting about went down, is still going down, in Chicago schools essential reporting. These books replace the now almost nonexistent investigative journalism in education. I didn’t agree with all of the conclusions, even thinking of some of the take downs as borderline straw man arguments. And, no one else is doing this work, telling the story. For that I am grateful.

[Aida · Rating 5 out of 5]

An incredibly critical, well-organized book that breaks down the recent educational and urban history of Chicago, drawing clear ties to racism, Neoliberalism, and urban/community politics. Plus, a push for efforts for future change.

[Shameka]

Read it!

[Laurel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lipman uses her final chapter to summarize her main points about neoliberalism and the eminent demise it will have on society. She re-iterates that African Americans and other minority groups (race, culture, and gender-based) have been marginalized while those in a very small percentage of at the top have gained exponential wealth and power. She re-states that education is currently the breeding ground for a neoliberalist society as schools are constantly being turned over to corporate giants and made a for-profit enterprise.

The solution she presents includes four, over-simplified, components of participatory democracy: education for full development, equitably funded free public education, and education as a tool for liberation.

I agree with many of Lipman's claims throughout the book (see first paragraph of this review), and the ones with which I don't immediately agree I can at least understand her reasoning and research (for the most part). But, her writing is redundant and whine-y throughout. For as much as she complains throughout the entire book, I was disappointed that she did not offer up a more comprehensive (not to mention, realistic) proposed-solution. She spends the first 6 chapters of the book elaborating on the problems of neoliberalism and shoves the blame in many directions. She spends the last, final chapter throwing out some half-baked idealist solutions that would never pan out in reality, at least not without very meticulous and detailed steps for action. I suspect that the reason she did not elaborate on how one would begin to carry out her solution is because she has no idea herself. I agree that her solution would pave way to a sort of utopia, but perhaps she could have focused on one facet of her solution and fleshed it out to form a more pragmatic approach and make her book more worth-while.

[Alli · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was on track for a 5 star rating up until the last chapter. Lipman does an amazing job of laying out how Chicago has been transformed by a neoliberal agenda from both liberals and conservatives and the consequences of this on the city and on education. The chapter on corporate philanthrophy and general coverage of charter schools and the illusion of "market choice" and "consumerism" in regards to education is particularly compelling. The solution Lipman offers, however, is a bit of a let down. While I agree with her that the United States could benefit from a 21st century version of socialism, I was hoping she had something more inventive up her sleeve. The entire book builds up to this grand solution coming in the last chapter, and I finished the book discouraged that she failed to offer anything particularly pragmatic. Still a good read though!

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lipman's book is a necessary and essential read to understand the philosophy of neoliberalism and how it is driving the narrative of community development, governance, and educational reform. Written in a way that combines critical social geography, urban sociology, transformative pedagogy, and political theory, this is a deep yet accessible field manual for those working toward democratic urban reforms.

[Erika · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is very well-researched and well-assembled. it is a must-read for people who want to understand how education issues fit within a larger institutional scheme.

[Rhummanee Hang · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good for explaining how neoliberalism is affecting current educational reform.