Theorizing Social Class and Education presents a selection of writing on class analysis within sociology of education as it has evolved over the last decade both in the UK, and internationally. Moving from a narrow focus on class position and categorisation, to a much broader view on behaviours, attitudes, identities and practices, the contributors explore and theorize the ways in which particular individuals develop their perspectives and understandings of the social world, and the role education plays in shaping these. This book was originally published as a special issue of the British Journal of Sociology of Education.
Southern Theory presents the case for a radical re-thinking of social science and its relationships to knowledge, power and democracy on a world scale. Mainstream social science pictures the world as understood by the educated and affluent in Europe and North America. From Weber and Keynes to Friedman and Foucault, theorists from the global North dominate the imagination of social scientists, and the reading lists of students, all over the world. For most of modern history, the majority world has served social science only as a data mine. Yet the global South does produce knowledge and understanding of society. Through vivid accounts of critics and theorists, Raewyn Connell shows how social theory from the world periphery has power and relevance for understanding our changing world from al-Afghani at the dawn of modern social science, to Raul Prebisch in industrialising Latin America, Ali Shariati in revolutionary Iran, Paulin Hountondji in post-colonial Benin, Veena Das and Ashis Nandy in contemporary India, and many others. With clarity and verve, Southern Theory introduces readers to texts, ideas and debates that have emerged from Australia's Indigenous people, from Africa, Latin America, south and south-west Asia. It deals with modernisation, gender, race, class, cultural domination, neoliberalism, violence, trade, religion, identity, land, and the structure of knowledge itself. Southern Theory shows how this tremendous resource has been disregarded by mainstream social science. It explores the challenges of doing theory in the periphery, and considers the role Southern perspectives should have in a globally connected system of knowledge. Southern Theory draws on sociology, anthropology, history, psychology, economics, philosophy and cultural studies, with wide-ranging implications for social science in the 21st century.
Social Class and Classism in the Helping Professions is a supplementary text that is intended for courses in multicultural counseling/prejudice, which is found in departments of counseling, psychology, social work, sociology and human services. The book addresses a topic that is highly relevant in working with minority clients, yet has not received adequate treatment in many core textbooks in this arena. This book provides a thorough overview of mental health and social class and how social class and classism affect mental health and seeking treatment. Social class and classism cut across all racial and ethnic minority groups and is thus an important factor that needs to be highly considered when working withádiverse clients. The book examines the differences among poverty, classism and inequality and how it affects development across the life span (from infancy through the elder years). Most importantly, the book offers concrete, practical recommendations for counselors, students, and trainees.
Within the broader context of the global knowledge economy, wherein the "college-for-all" discourse grows more and more pervasive and systems of higher education become increasingly stratified by social class, important and timely questions emerge regarding the future social location and mobility of the working classes. Though the working classes look very different from the working classes of previous generations, the weight of a universal working-class identity/background amounts to much of the same economic vulnerability and negative cultural stereotypes, all of which continue to present obstacles for new generations of working-class youth, many of whom pursue higher education as a necessity rather than a "choice." Using a sociological lens, contributors examine the complicated relationship between the working classes and higher education through students’ distinct experiences, challenges, and triumphs during three moments on a transitional continuum: the transition from secondary to higher education; experiences within higher education; and the transition from higher education to the workforce. In doing so, this volume challenges the popular notion of higher education as a means to equality of opportunity and social mobility for working-class students.
This book argues for the importance of considering social class in critical psychological enquiry. It provides a historical overview of psychological research and theorising on social class and socio-economic status; before examining the ways in which psychology has contributed to the surveillance, regulation and pathologisation of the working-class ‘Other’. The authors highlight the cost of recent austerity policies on mental health and warn against the implementation of further austerity measures in the current climate The book pulls together perspectives from critical social psychology, feminist psychology, sociology and other critical research which examines the discursive production of social class, classism and classed identities. The authors explore social class in educational and occupational settings, and analyse the intersections between class and other social categories such as gender, race, ethnicity and sexuality. Finally, they consider key issues in debates around social class in the broader social sciences, such as the limitations of approaches informed by poststructuralist theory. This book will be a useful resource for both academics and students studying class from a critical perspective.
Mirroring worldwide debates on social class, literacy rates, and social change, this study explores the intersection between reading and social class in Singapore, one of the top scorers on the Programme for International Assessment (PISA) tests, and questions the rhetoric of social change that does not take into account local spaces and practices. This comparative study of reading practices in an elite school and a government school in Singapore draws on practice and spatial perspectives to provide critical insight into how taken-for-granted practices and spaces of reading can be in fact unacknowledged spaces of inequity. Acknowledging the role of social class in shaping reading education is a start to reconfiguring current practices and spaces for more effective and equitable reading practices. This book shows how using localized, contextualized approaches sensitive to the home, school, national and global contexts can lead to more targeted policy and practice transformation in the area of reading instruction and intervention. Chapters in the book include: • Becoming a Reader: Home-School Connections • Singaporean Boys Constructing Global Literate Selves: School-Nation Connections • Levelling the Reading Gap: Socio-Spatial Perspectives The book will be relevant to literacy scholars and educators, library science researchers and sociologists interested in the intersection of class and literacy practices in the 21st century.
Music Education for Social Change: Constructing an Activist Music Education develops an activist music education rooted in principles of social justice and anti-oppression. Based on the interviews of 20 activist-musicians across the United States and Canada, the book explores the common themes, perceptions, and philosophies among them, positioning these activist-musicians as catalysts for change in music education while raising the question: amidst racism and violence targeted at people who embody difference, how can music education contribute to changing the social climate? Music has long played a role in activism and resistance. By drawing upon this rich tradition, educators can position activist music education as part of a long-term response to events, as a crucial initiative to respond to ongoing oppression, and as an opportunity for youth to develop collective, expressive, and critical thinking skills. This emergent activist music education—like activism pushing toward social change—focuses on bringing people together, expressing experiences, and identifying (and challenging) oppressions. Grounded in practice with examples integrated throughout the text, Music Education for Social Change is an imperative and urgent consideration of what may be possible through music and music education.
The theories of social reproduction are highly complicated, and they have various quantification problems. By introducing the Triptych Model of Social Class Reproduction, which can be applied in different cultures and societies, this book resolves this issue by providing a rich and easy-to-grasp understanding of these theories. It discusses various issues with the Marxian conception of social reproduction, class measurement challenges, and advanced equations of social practice. Further, it substantiates the practice of social reproduction in quantitative research in the domains of language, family, ethnicity, and indigenous culture.
Social Problems in the UK: An Introduction contextualises the most pressing social problems of our times drawing upon the disciplines of sociology, social policy, education studies and health studies. This much-needed textbook brings together a comprehensive range of expertise in the applied social sciences to discuss the social myths and moral panics that surround many popular debates. This is an accessible text that carefully guides students through the methodology of social construction and related theories to introduce key topics in the areas of: ‘Race’ and ethnicity The future of work Poverty and homelessness Inequalities in education Health, public health and mental health Ageing and the ‘third age’ This completely revised and up-to-date second edition covers the most urgent social issues facing the UK today, including an analysis of the Black Lives Matter movement, the Covid-19 health crisis and the new ‘gig’ economy. The second edition maintains the accessible style and easy-to-read format of the first edition, integrated with Key Points and Further Reading elements to further aid student learning. Situated firmly in the new post-pandemic, post-Brexit world, this text contains new chapters on all the most pressing questions raised in the media and in public debates. It will help readers understand the background and broader context of the UK’s key social problems.
