"Change that cannot happen when the privileges of some are built on the dispersed waste of so many others." (Kratz, 2010).
This quote basically summarizes the article: "Accumulation, excess, childhood: Toward a countertopography of risk and waste" by Cindi Katz. Here she expands her theoretical framework based on Marx's theories of how global forces behind capitalist interests fosters social reproduction practices. What drives capitalism are primarily - financial investments, production, labor, and trade. The US has established itself as the global economic powerhouse as a result of aggressive capitalist interests. The rise of the industrial revolution most notably marked the beginning of this national prestige with the advancement of production machines, transportation, and an abundant labor force composed of racial minorities and immigrants working hard to satisfy their American dream. The priorities for these laborers was to work, to produce, and definitely not geared toward educational advancement. Laborers do not need to be educated, all they needed was to be physically capable to produce as much as possible. They were indispensable in producing the masses of products which gave rise to the capitalist nation we are today. The poor, uneducated and disadvantaged workers needed to stay at the bottom of the social hierarchy for the purposes of labor in order for those at the top to remain in their positions of power at the cost of their workers' sacrifices.
During the deindustrialization periods of the 1980's and 1990's, most of the affected workers were laborers who mostly worked in manufacturing. This displaced labor force was comprised of immigrant and Black workers with limited education for future employment opportunities. They ended up living in concentrated areas of subsidized housing, in neighborhoods with squalid conditions and schools that perpetuated poverty, criminalization of youth, and academic underperformance. For this population of urban youth, Katz uses the analogy as them being "waste". In a capitalist mentality urban and disenfranchised youth are not contributing to our economy in any way and their potential skills are negligible. The treatment of urban youth focuses on restricting their academic advancement through an unsupportive educational system with underprepared teachers, deficit thinking for students' underperformance on standardized tests, criminalizing their behavior, and on and on. This entire population is thought of as "waste" since they are not provided with the means for academic success toward future career opportunities.
As a dual-language teacher in an urban district, I see the disparities between the opportunities provided to the affluent families compared to those who are less educated and poor. The students from affluent backgrounds are seeking dual-language education for their children as an added enrichment. Not necessarily because they need this type of setting for academic and linguistic success. Student who are recent immigrants typically come from poverty stricken backgrounds and require special support in acquiring English as their second language. Dual-language programs are ideal settings for these students in specific. Students feel "safe" working with other children like themselves and staff who are open-minded to their culture and challenges. It's an asset based environment where students' native language is viewed as an asset in the classroom rather than as a deficit. Those who are native speakers of the other language, lets say Spanish, can assist other students with less Spanish proficiency such as monolingual English speakers. Our student population has become increasingly more affluent over the past several years as a result of families seeking dual-language education as an enrichment and the future educational and employment opportunities they will secure for being bilingual. So the affluent are being further enriched while they are displacing immigrant and poor students from having this opportunity which in many ways can better benefit them. This is what I hope to discover in my study. What is causing this imbalance of demographic characteristics of our students in order to address equal access in dual-language education.
Read more about the benefits of asset orientation:
Toward an Asset Orientation in the Study of U.S. Latina/o Youth:Biculturalism, EthnicIdentity, and PositiveYouth Development
Rosa, your writing made me think about my own role in oppressing urban youth. I wonder if I have done enough to liberate and empower them? Has my voice been loud enough when the systematic structures have directly robbed my students of opportunities and dreams? Have the letters I written to the superintendent, the president of the board, the commissioner of education, the governor - have these serve any purpose aside from voice my own anger? How can I become a better and more effective advocate?
ReplyDeleteHi Rosa,
ReplyDeleteNice summary of Katz here. It's important to remember too that, once socially constructed as "waste," youth then require some kind of "waste management" -- hence the prison and other systems of social control that "absorb" and "manage" populations rendered disposable by the economic changes you mention here.
It does seem like what is happening in bilingual education is analogous to the concept of "accumulation by dispossession" -- immigrant youth and families are dispossessed of educational resources to the further enrichment of upper class (white?) families.