Rethinking Race, Class, Language, and Gender: A Dialogue with Noam Chomsky and Other Leading Scholars

by Pierre Wilbert Orelus

Overview

Oftentimes, critical examinations of oppression solely focus on one type and neglect others. In this single volume, Pierre Orelus examines the way various forms of oppression, such as racism, classism, capitalism, sexism, and linguicism (linguistic discrimination) operate and limit the life chances people, across various race, class, language, and gender lines, have. Utilizing dialogue as a form of inquiry, Pierre Orelus conducts in-depth interviews carried over the course of two years with committed social justice educators and intellectuals from different fields and foci to examine the way and the extent to which these forms of oppression have profoundly affected the subjectivity and material conditions of women, poor working-class people, queer people, students of color, female faculty and faculty of color. This book presents a novel and critical perspective on race, social class, gender, and language issues echoed through authentic, collective, and dissident voices of these educators and intellectuals.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781442204553
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	07/07/2011
Pages:	236
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Pierre W. Orelus is assistant professor in the Curriculum and Instruction Department at New Mexico State University.

Table of Contents

Foreword Peter McLaren ix

Acknowledgments xix

About the Interviewees xxi

Introduction xxix

Part 1 Mapping and Engaging the Debate on Race, Racism, and Other "Isms": From Slavery to the Civil Rights Era to Barack Obama's Presidency and Beyond 1

1 Unveiling Majoritarian Myths and Tales about Race and Racism: A Conversation Richard Delgado 7

2 The Fight against Racism and Classism: A Conversation David Gillborn 17

3 Unmasking White Supremacy and Racism: A Conversation Zeus Leonardo 31

Part 2 Against the Matrix of Oppressions: Toward a More Humane World 53

4 Unpacking Racial and Socioeconomic Marginalizations: A Conversation Howard Winant 59

5 Reexamining Social Inequality in Schools and Beyond: A Conversation Christine E. Sleeter 67

6 Unveiling and Fighting against Discrimination in Schools and Society: A Conversation Sonia Nieto 75

7 Multicultural Education Matters More Than Ever: A Conversation Carl A. Grant 85

Part 3 Redefining Democracy, Schooling, and Social Justice in the Supreme State of Western Neoliberalism and U.S. Imperialism 91

8 Critical Pedagogy in Stark Opposition to Western Neoliberalism and the Corporatization of Schools: A Conversation Peter McLaren 97

9 Democracy, Schooling, and Neoliberalism: A Conversation Noam Chomsky 111

Part 4 The Trio of Inequities: Class, Gender, and Race 121

10 Reexamining Class and Racial Dominations in the New Era of Western Capitalism: A Conversation Antonia Darder 129

11 Beyond Obama's Historical Symbolism: The Heavy Weight of Being Black/Brown in a Racist Society: A Conversation Eduardo Bonilla-Silva 147

12 Confront Racial and Gender Oppressions in Schools: A Conversation Pedro Noguera 161

13 I Say It How It Is: Exposing Racial Issues in the Classroom and Beyond: A Conversation David Stovall 169

Conclusion 179

Afterword Christine E. Sleeter 183

Bibliography 187

Index 195

About the Author 203

Editorial Reviews

This book overflows with wisdom, candor, and clarity as thirteen prominent educators/scholars immerse us in their personal experiences, political analyses, and future visions. The dialogue between these scholars and Pierre Orelus gives us a chance to look beneath the pages of their scholarly work and peer for a moment into their lifeworlds. Their words illuminate the depths and contours of global White supremacy, capitalism, and patriarchy. But, the larger undercurrent of the book is a discourse of radical hope, which pushes us toward the surface as we struggle to emerge and, someday, draw breath in a new, truly just world.

Ricky Lee Allen

Rethinking Race, Class, Language and Gender is first and foremost a rich theoretical critique that challenges the foundations of inequality and social hierarchies within American Society. Through historical analysis, in-depth interviews, and social investigation, the author examines the connections between various forms of social injustice. The author illustrates through many examples how oppression operates in the 21st Century, and how the disadvantage fights back. Rethinking Race, Class, Language and Gender forces us to explore how the ruling class exercises its power. It presents both an uncompromising vision and a brilliant analysis how American democracy should work.

Manning Marable

With well-crafted, provocative questions, Pierre Orelus skillfully interviews thirteen leading social justice educators and cross-border scholars who speak candidly of personal histories, experiences in the classroom, and their views about the nature of democracy, the future of capitalism, as well as the ways race, class, gender, and language overlap in webs of oppression. Searing, revelatory, inspiring, pathbreaking, and hard-to-stop reading.

Jean Stefancic

An informative conversation by well-known scholars on the long arguments about race, gender, class, and language.

Maxine Greene

Pierre Orelus has done what we have all wanted to do: sit and dialogue with an impressive array of scholars who examine injustice and intersectionality with insight and immediacy. Grab a chair and join the conversation—you won't be able to put this book down.

Kevin Kumashiro