A History of Education for the Many: From Colonization and Slavery to the Decline of US Imperialism (Radical Politics and Education)

This book is available as open access through the Bloomsbury Open Access programme and is available on www.bloomsburycollections.com. A History of Education for the Many offers a window into the history of US education that challenges long held beliefs that the historical development of education reflects either the flourishing of democracy, or a ruling class project designed to reproduce structural inequalities. While it has more in common with texts that celebrate the agency of poor and oppressed people’s efforts at challenging unjust educational policies, the book is unique in that it looks to the global balances of forces as the primary factor shaping the history of US education. In a country notorious for educating its people with an inability to see beyond its own borders A History of Education for the Many offers a timely corrective. Drawing on Marx’s dialectic combined with W.E.B. Du Bois’ challenge to 19th-century historians that dismissed the role of the enslaved in ending slavery and bringing forth all progressive reforms in the South, Curry Malott is thus able to demonstrate how the mighty agency of the worlds’ poor and oppressed have forced the hand of US imperialists in not only foreign policy, but in domestic education policy. As US imperialism declines in the 21st century, Malott points optimistically and realistically toward a history of education for the many. This book is available as open access through the Bloomsbury Open Access programme and is available on (http://www.bloomsburycollections.com) www.bloomsburycollections.com . Offering a novel take on the history of education in the US, A History of Education for the Many examines the development of the education system from a global and internationalist perspective. Challenging the dominant narratives that such development is the product of either a flourishing democracy or a ruling-class project to reproduce structural inequalities, this book demonstrates the link between education and the struggles of working-class and oppressed peoples inside and outside the US. In a country notorious for educating its people with an inability to see beyond its own borders, this book offers a timely corrective by focusing on the primacy of the global balances of forces in shaping the history of US education. Combining Marx's dialectic with W.E.B. Du Bois' historiographical approach, Malott demonstrates how the mighty agency of the world's poor and oppressed have forced the hand of the US ruling class in foreign policy and domestic educational policies. Malott offers a unique view of the dialectical development of social control by examining the role of the police and state violence, along with education or ideology over time. This situates the 2020 uprisings against racism and the movements to defund the police within a historical context dating back to eighteenth-century slave patrols. As US imperialism declines in the 21st century and social movements across the globe continue to swell and intensify, Malott's historical analysis looks backwards as it pushes us, optimistically and realistically, forwards towards a liberated future. "A History of Education for the Many offers a window into the history of US education that challenges long held beliefs that the historical development of education reflects either the flourishing of democracy, or a ruling class project designed to reproduce structural inequalities. While it has more in common with texts that celebrate the agency of poor and oppressed people's efforts at challenging unjust educational policies, the book is unique in that it looks to the global balances of forces as the primary factor shaping the history of US education. In a country notorious for educating its people with an inability to see beyond its own borders A History of Education for the Many offers a timely corrective. Drawing on Marx's dialectic combined with W.E.B. Du Bois' challenge to 19th-century historians that dismissed the role of the enslaved in ending slavery and bringing forth all progressive reforms in the South, Curry Malott is thus able to demonstrate how the mighty agency of the worlds' poor and oppressed have forced the hand of US imperialists in not only foreign policy, but in domestic education policy. As US imperialism declines in the 21st century, Malott points optimistically and realistically toward a history of education for the many"-- Provided by publisher 1. Orienting a History of Education for the Many -- Part I: Turning the World Upside Down -- 2. Colonialism and Settler-colonialism in the So-Called New World -- 3. The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade and the Balance of Forces in the Colonies -- Part II: From Counter-Revolution to People's Revolution -- 4. The Reactionary Character of 1776 and the Movements of the Many -- 5. Monopoly Capitalism and Three Systems of Education -- 6. African American Agency and the US Civil War -- 7. From Monopoly Capitalism to US Imperialism -- 8. The Russian Revolution and a New Era in Educational Theory -- Part III: Rise of a Global Proletarian Counter-Weight -- 9. The Great Depression and the Mood of the Many -- 10. Untangling Post-War Contradictions: From NATO to Brown -- Part IV: From Unrestrained Capitalism to a New Global Counter-Weight -- 11. A Unipolar Imperialist Power -- 12. An Emerging Counter-Force -- References -- Index Cover Contents 1 Orienting a History of Education for the Many Part 1 Turning the World Upside Down 2 Colonialism in the So-Called New World 3 The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade and the Balance of Forces in the Colonies Part 2 From Counter-Revolution to People’s Revolution 4 The Reactionary Character of 1776 and the Movements of the Many 5 Monopoly Capitalism and Three Systems of Education 6 African American Agency and the US Civil War 7 From Monopoly Capitalism to US Imperialism 8 The Russian Revolution and a New Era in Educational Theory Part 3 Rise and Fall of a Global Proletarian Counter-Weight 9 The Great Depression and the Mood of the Many 10 From Mass Education to Mass Incarceration Part 4 History’s Future and the Role of the Many 11 A Unipolar Imperialist Power 12 An Emerging Counter-Force Conclusion: The Dialectics of History Notes References Index