Theme: Liberalism in Educational Policy, Practice, and Discourse
Guest Editors: Angelina E. Castagno & Sabina Vaught
Despite current scholarly attention to the ways neoliberalism
characterizes much of our contemporary socio-political context,
liberalism still profoundly informs power dynamics within schools,
community organizations, and other educational contexts. While
neoliberalism focuses on markets, choice, and efficiency, classical
liberalism centers notions of the individual, equality, democracy, and
meritocracy. These are enduring notions with significant ideological
attachments, as well as institutional and policy-based manifestations
within school settings. Although the concept of liberalism has
somewhat shifting boundaries in response to larger social, political,
and economic changes, there remain these powerful central elements
(see, for example, Cochran, 1999; Dawson, 2003; Locke, 1690; Mill,
1869; Olson, 2004; Starr, 2008). This special issue seeks to examine
how these liberal tenets shape power dynamics around race, gender,
class, and sexuality in school policy, practice, and law.
We suggest that liberalism’s power in schooling operates from its axis
of individualism. At the heart of liberalism is the notion of the
individual and individual rights. In liberal thought, individuals
provide the foundation for laws and societal norms, and institutions
exist primarily to further the goals, desires, and needs of
individuals. An individual’s rights are of utmost importance under a
liberal framework, so rights such as freedom of speech, thought,
conscience, and lifestyle are viewed as fundamental and worth
protecting at almost any cost. Equality of opportunity is another
liberal mainstay. Value is placed on ensuring that individuals have
equal access to various opportunities in society. However, liberalism
is not concerned with ensuring equality of outcome since it is assumed
that individuals can reasonably decide if and how to capitalize on
opportunities presented to them. Moreover, liberalism generally
opposes too much government regulation, but this can be a point of
contention since government involvement is sometimes required to
ensure the stability of other core liberal values. These tenets allow
liberalism to both mask and reproduce power imbalances. As such,
liberalism informs power mechanisms by which educational policies,
practices, and discourses are shaped.
With liberalism as an analytic construct through which to view
schooling, we seek papers for this special issue that might address
the following broad questions:
• How is liberalism taken up, engaged, and employed in various
educational contexts to reproduce power along axes of race, gender,
sexuality, and class?
• To what extent does the liberal identity and agenda drive
educational efforts and movements, and to what effect?
• What are the implications of liberalism on schools? On youth? On
policy? On curriculum? On pedagogy? On activism? On reform efforts?
Through these analyses, we hope to map the multiple ways liberalism
impacts schooling in order to disrupt power inequities that remain
pervasive and elusive when viewed strictly through a neoliberal
framework. Drawing on critical theory, Critical Race Theory, Tribal
Critical Theory, Red Pedagogies, gender and feminist studies, and
other related theoretical traditions, this special issue will bring
together articles that advance a critical conversation about
liberalism, individualism, and power within U.S. schools.
To submit a manuscript for consideration in this special issue of
Critical Education, and for author submission guidelines, please visit
www.criticaleducation.org.
For any inquiries related to this special issue, please e-mail the
guest editors at liberalismineducation@gmail.
consideration, complete manuscripts of no more than 5,000 words,
including references, should be submitted by January 15, 2013. We
strongly encourage submissions from advanced doctoral students and
junior scholars.
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