Beyond Comfort Zones in Multiculturalism: Confronting the Politics of Privilege (Critical Studies in Education and Culture Series)

For peoples whose legal agreements, treaties, and other accords and conventions with the United States have been violated, multiculturalism as a pedagogical tool often becomes suspect of reinforcing the continued reification and abstraction of their cultures and nations with little if any real meaning for educational and social transformation. The continued oppression and repression of the exercise of self-determination for African Americans; the persistence of policies aimed at the destruction of indigenous populations and land; the insidious continuation of classical colonialism in the case of Puerto Rico are all vivid reminders to these peoples of the racist, classist, sexist, and homophobic patriarchy that characterizes their status. In order to restore people's rights to fully determine their own histories, Jackson and Solis point out that it is imperative to destroy the material foundations that breed and recycle the ideology, discourse, and cultural practices of domination. It is not enough to celebrate diversity and difference; there must be grand-scale social, political, economic, and educational transformation. Demystifying some of the implications of multiculturalism might allow the opportunity to ground the field in the basic exercise of cultural affirmation, self-determination. Contributors to this book affirm that self-determination and moving beyond the comfort zones to which multiculturalism has advanced are essential to seeing multiculturalism as an aspect of educating people to develop independence in thought and action. Contributions include: (1) "Introduction: Resisting Zones of Comfort in Multiculturalism" (Sandra Jackson and Jose Solis); (2) "White Studies: The Intellectual Imperialism of U.S. Higher Education" (Ward Churchill); (3) "Multiculturalism: War in America Continues" (Imari Abubakari Obadele); (4) "Nuestra Realidad: Historical Roots of Our Latino Identity" (Felix Masud-Piloto); (5) "The Politics of Culture: Multicultural Education after the Content Debate" (Cameron McCarthy and Arlette Ingram Willis); (6) "Academic Apartheid: American Indian Studies and 'Multiculturalism'" (Marie Annette Jaimes * Guerrero); (7) "The Doorkeepers: Education and Internal Settler Colonialism, the Mexican Experience" (Priscilla Lujan Falcon); (8) "Negotiating Self-Defined Standpoints in Teaching and Learning" (Sandra Jackson); (9) "Entre la Marquesina y la Cocina" (Jose Solis); (10) "Deconstructing Mainstream Discourse through Puerto Rican Women's Oral Narratives" (Lourdes Torres); (11) "Education in Community: The Role of Multicultural Education" (Terence O'Connor); (12) "Core Culture and Core Curriculum in South Africa" (Neville Alexander); (13) "The Peer Review Group: Writing, Negotiation, and Metadiscourse in the English Classroom" (Linda Williamson Nelson); and (14) "The Cultural Ethos of the Academy: Potentials and Perils for Multicultural Education Reform" (Geneva Gay and Wanda Fox). Each chapter contains references. (SLD) Introduction: Resisting Zones Of Comfort In Multiculturalism / Sandra Jackson And José Solís -- White Studies: The Intellectual Imperialism Of U.s. Higher Education / Ward Churchill -- Multiculturalism: War In America Continues / Imari Abubakari Obadele -- Nuestra Realidad: Historical Roots Of Our Latino Identity / Félix Masud-piloto -- The Politics Of Culture: Multicultural Education After The Content Debate / Cameron Mccarthy And Arlette Ingram Willis -- Academic Apartheid: American Indian Studies And Multiculturalism / Marie Annette Jaimes * Guerrero -- The Doorkeepers: Education And Internal Settler Colonialism, The Mexican Experience / Priscilla Lujan Falcón -- Negotiating Self-defined Standpoints In Teaching And Learning / Sandra Jackson -- Entre La Marquesina Y La Cocina / José Solís -- Deconstructing Mainstream Discourse Through Puerto Rican Women's Oral Narratives / Lourdes Torres -- Education In Community: The Role Of Multicultural Education / Terence O'connor -- Core Culture And Core Curriculum In South Africa / Neville Alexander -- The Peer Review Group: Writing, Negotiation, And Metadiscourse In The English Classroom / Linda Williamson Nelson -- The Cultural Ethos Of The Academy: Potentials And Perils For Multicultural Education Reform / Geneva Gay And Wanda Fox. Edited By Sandra Jackson And José Solís. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. When we embarked upon this work, different motivations were present.