Pedagogy, Policy, and the Privatized City: Stories of Dispossession and Defiance from New Orleans

by Kristen L. Buras, Kalamu ya Salaam, Jim Randels

In cities across the nation, communities of color find themselves resisting state disinvestment and the politics of dispossession. Students at the Center—a writing initiative based in several New Orleans high schools—takes on this struggle through a close examination of race and schools. This book builds on the powerful stories of marginalized youth and their teachers, who contest the policies that are destructive to their decentralization, charter schools, market-based educational choice, teachers union-busting, mixed-income housing, and urban redevelopment. Striking commentaries from the foremost scholars of the day explore the wider implications of these stories for pedagogy and educational policy in schools across the United States and the globe. Most importantly, this book reveals what must be done to challenge oppressive conditions and democratize our schools by troubling the vision of city elites who seek to elide students’ histories, privatize their schools, and reinvent their neighborhoods. Contributors include Michael W. Apple, Wayne Au, Adrienne D. Dixson, Maisha T. Fisher, Joyce E. King, Pauline Lipman, and Vanessa Siddle Walker. “This book is more than a compelling, inspiring read. It is one of the most radical works of collaboration I’ve seen (in the last four decades).”
—From the Foreword by Robin D. G. Kelley , University of Southern California
“In this powerfully written book, Buras skillfully weaves poetry with theoretically sophisticated analysis and contributors provide remarkably rich data. Together they affirm the pedagogical significance of critical race counter-storytelling for urban youth of color.”
— Tara J. Yosso , Associate Professor, University of California, Santa Barbara and author of Critical Race Counterstories Along the Chicana/Chicano Educational Pipeline
“In education the neoliberal onslaught of racialized ‘smash and grab’ privatization accelerates unabated, with broad-based global pillaging of the public sector. This book could not be a more timely and valuable example to inspire the critical consciousness necessary to take back public schools.”— Kenneth J. Saltman, Associate Professor, DePaul University and author of Capitalizing on Taking and Breaking Public Schools

Genres: History, Economics, American

208 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 2010

Reviews

[Girl]

This was an amazing book. If you can get your hands on it and are at all interested in a) education b) policy c) literacy d)urban development or e)local politics, I highly suggest reading it. The vignettes included from New Orleans high school students will stick with you for a long time. This is written for educators and researchers but relevant to anyone who lives in a city with public schools. We must protect and uplift our youth.