Youth Activism in an Era of Education Inequality

Winner, 2016 Best Authored Book presented by the Society for Research on Adolescence

Diverse case studies on how youth build political power during an era of racial and educational inequality in America

This is what democracy looks like: Youth organizers in Colorado negotiate new school discipline policies to end the school to jail track. Latino and African American students march to district headquarters to protest high school closure. Young immigration rights activists persuade state legislators to pass a bill to make in-state tuition available to undocumented state residents. Students in an ESL class collect survey data revealing the prevalence of racism and xenophobia.

These examples, based on ten years of research by youth development scholar Ben Kirshner, show young people building political power during an era of racial inequality, diminished educational opportunity, and an atrophied public square. The book’s case studies analyze what these experiences mean for young people and why they are good for democracy. What is youth activism and how does it contribute to youth development? How might collective movements of young people expand educational opportunity and participatory democracy? The interdependent relationship between youths’ political engagement, their personal development, and democratic renewal is the central focus of this book. Kirshner argues that youth and societal institutions are strengthened when young people, particularly those most disadvantaged by educational inequity, turn their critical gaze to education systems and participate in efforts to improve them.

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Youth Activism in an Era of Education Inequality

Winner, 2016 Best Authored Book presented by the Society for Research on Adolescence

Diverse case studies on how youth build political power during an era of racial and educational inequality in America

This is what democracy looks like: Youth organizers in Colorado negotiate new school discipline policies to end the school to jail track. Latino and African American students march to district headquarters to protest high school closure. Young immigration rights activists persuade state legislators to pass a bill to make in-state tuition available to undocumented state residents. Students in an ESL class collect survey data revealing the prevalence of racism and xenophobia.

These examples, based on ten years of research by youth development scholar Ben Kirshner, show young people building political power during an era of racial inequality, diminished educational opportunity, and an atrophied public square. The book’s case studies analyze what these experiences mean for young people and why they are good for democracy. What is youth activism and how does it contribute to youth development? How might collective movements of young people expand educational opportunity and participatory democracy? The interdependent relationship between youths’ political engagement, their personal development, and democratic renewal is the central focus of this book. Kirshner argues that youth and societal institutions are strengthened when young people, particularly those most disadvantaged by educational inequity, turn their critical gaze to education systems and participate in efforts to improve them.

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Youth Activism in an Era of Education Inequality

Youth Activism in an Era of Education Inequality

by Ben Kirshner
Youth Activism in an Era of Education Inequality

Youth Activism in an Era of Education Inequality

by Ben Kirshner

eBook

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Overview

Winner, 2016 Best Authored Book presented by the Society for Research on Adolescence

Diverse case studies on how youth build political power during an era of racial and educational inequality in America

This is what democracy looks like: Youth organizers in Colorado negotiate new school discipline policies to end the school to jail track. Latino and African American students march to district headquarters to protest high school closure. Young immigration rights activists persuade state legislators to pass a bill to make in-state tuition available to undocumented state residents. Students in an ESL class collect survey data revealing the prevalence of racism and xenophobia.

These examples, based on ten years of research by youth development scholar Ben Kirshner, show young people building political power during an era of racial inequality, diminished educational opportunity, and an atrophied public square. The book’s case studies analyze what these experiences mean for young people and why they are good for democracy. What is youth activism and how does it contribute to youth development? How might collective movements of young people expand educational opportunity and participatory democracy? The interdependent relationship between youths’ political engagement, their personal development, and democratic renewal is the central focus of this book. Kirshner argues that youth and societal institutions are strengthened when young people, particularly those most disadvantaged by educational inequity, turn their critical gaze to education systems and participate in efforts to improve them.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781479805426
Publisher: New York University Press
Publication date: 06/05/2015
Series: Qualitative Studies in Psychology , #2
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
Pages: 240
File size: 2 MB

About the Author

Ben Kirshner is Associate Professor of Education at the University of Colorado Boulder. He is also Faculty Director of CU Engage: Center for Civic Learning and Public Research, whose mission is to work collaboratively with students, staff, faculty, and community groups to address complex public challenges.

Table of Contents

Contents 

Acknowledgments ix 

Introduction 1 

Part I. How Activism Contributes to Human Development and Democratic Renewal 

1. Critique and Collective Agency in Youth Development 23 

2. Millennial Youth and the Fight for Opportunity 53 

3. “Not Down with the Shut Down”: Student Activism against School Closure 83 

Part II. learning ecologies of youth activism 

4. Teaching without Teaching 107 

5. Schools as Sites of Struggle: Critical Civic Inquiry 134 

Conclusion: Activism, Dignity, and Human Development 163 

Methodological Appendix 185 

Notes 201 

Bibliography 213 

Index 233 

About the Author 237 

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