Equality
Reclaiming Participatory Governance: Social Movements and the Reinvention of Democratic Innovation – review
In Reclaiming Participatory Governance, Adrian Bua and Sonia Bussu bring together analyses of social movements around the world that engage with democracy-driven or participatory governance. Although the essays in this volume reveal the challenge of bringing grassroots organising into our political systems, they advocate compellingly for nurturing these practices to create fairer and stronger democracies, writes Andrea Felicetti.
Reclaiming Participatory Governance is a compelling investigation of the potential for bottom-up forms of democratic innovations to vitalise our democracies. Anchored on Adrian Bua and Sonia Bussu’s concept of “democracy-driven governance” (DDG), this edited volume critically investigates the “potential, limits and opportunities” of social movements’ engagement with participatory and deliberative institutional designs. This is no small feat since social movements and democratic innovations are often seen as crucial in strengthening our democracies.
[Democracy-driven governance] is considered in its capacity for effectively ‘[o]pening up spaces for a deeper critique of minimalist liberal democratic institutions and the neoliberal economy that underpins them’.
From the introduction, expectations are high. Pitted against forms of “governance-driven democratisation” (GDD) that tend to be seen as top-down and markedly bureaucratic, DDG is considered in its capacity for effectively “[o]pening up spaces for a deeper critique of minimalist liberal democratic institutions and the neoliberal economy that underpins them”. Of course, this needs to occur at a time when “space for meaningful citizen input is increasingly constrained by technocratic decision-making and global economic pressure”.
The book presents a highly coherent and impressive collection of in-depth analyses that span theory and empirical research, with a great variety of cases. Spain takes centre stage, and there are no case studies from English-speaking countries, going markedly against the tide. Theory is at the heart of the first section. Drawing from fascinating cases in Germany and Iceland, Dannica Fleuss shows the urgency of thinking about democracy beyond liberal institutions. Nick Vlahos introduces the idea of “participatory decommodification of social need” as an interesting way to think about how participatory governance can combat the worst effects of capitalism, with examples from Toronto, Canada. Based on his extensive fieldwork in Rosario, Argentina, Markus Holdo discusses the concept of “democratic care” to unearth the work performed by activists that needs to be recognised in participatory governance. Finally, Hendrik Wagenaar offers a compelling analysis of strengths and weaknesses of the GDD/DGG pair from a political economy standpoint, building on a well-established threefold distinction between the dominant economic, financial system, the political, administrative sector and civil society.
Vlahos introduces the idea of ‘participatory decommodification of social need’ as an interesting way to think about how participatory governance can combat the worst effects of capitalism
The second part is markedly empirical. Paola Pierri analyses the Orleans Metropole Assise for the Ecological Transition, in France, showing a case of “collaborative countervailing power” that reminds us that the seminal work of Empowered Participatory Governance by Archon Fung and Erik Olin Wright remains highly relevant to understand participatory governance. Lucy Cathcart Frodén investigates the parallels between prefigurative social movements and participatory arts projects as well as their potential to contribute to democratic renewal. A rather effective collaboration between “right to the city” activists and local administration is documented in Roberto Falanga’s in-depth analysis of the participatory process for the regeneration of one of the main squares in Lisbon, Portugal. Giovanni Allegretti shows clearly how anticolonial protests irrupt into and benefit participatory experiments in Kalaallit Nunaat, Greenland. Mendonça and colleagues, instead, systematically explore strengths and weaknesses of Gambiarra, an unconventional means social movements in Brazil use to break into elites-dominated elections at local and parliamentary level. Bua, Bussu and Davies offer the ultimate comparison about the GDD and DGG models as embodied in the historical trajectories of participatory governance of the cities of Nantes and Barcelona respectively.
The third section highlights problems and limitations. Joan Balcells and colleagues unveil the tension that lay at the basis of the famous participatory platform Decidim. Always focusing on Barcelona, Marina Pera and colleagues look at the Citizen Assets Program showing how lack of trust prevented this very advanced form of democratisation from being embedded into its context. Fabiola Mota Consejero considers another case from Spain where Madrid’s progressive local government broke with a longstanding tradition of conservative patronage but failed to turn its main innovation, Decide Madrid, into an effective means for participatory governance. Patricia Garcia-Espin, instead, shows the fatigue and disappointment of activists involved in another innovation of Madrid’s new municipalist government, the local forums. Finally, Sixtine Van Outryve looks at a fascinating case of a local Yellow Vest organization in Commercy, France, trying to set up an open citizens assembly to have a communalist project represented in the local government that ultimately failed.
Virtually every chapter of this book details a host of challenges participatory governance faces in the context of minimalist democracies dominated by neoliberal economics.
The findings in this book are rather sobering. Employing a rigorous approach devoid of self-celebration or ideological dismissal, virtually every chapter of this book details a host of challenges participatory governance faces in the context of minimalist democracies dominated by neoliberal economics. In many case studies, elements of both GDD and DGG coexist, and sometimes one morphs into the other. Second, empirical investigations highlight weaknesses with DGG. This reduces our expectations about this model of democratisation, yet it also lends it a more realistic and useful outlook. Third, while the theoretical section highlights the political economy of participatory governance as a crucial issue, that remains in the background in the empirical analysis, as it tends to happen in the field. This kind of investigation remains essential.
Further, after reading this book, one has the feeling that contemporary participatory governance grapples with two important limitations. First, the promotion of participatory governance remains primarily within the purview of a select group of political actors: progressive parties, particularly those with a robust radical left presence. As we move to the centre of the political spectrum, the idea of reinvigorating democracy, let alone doing so by means of radical participatory governance, seems to lose attractiveness. Indeed, the book consistently shows that, in those uncommon cases in which progressive parties that champion participatory governance take power, they downscale their democratisation ambitions as they face the challenges implied in participatory governance. These can vary from administrative hurdles in implementing innovation to more endogenous problems relating, for example, to internal conflicts arising from differing conceptions of democracy that exacerbate fatigue and disillusionment. Second, the book gives the sense that contemporary participatory governance still has a mass democracy problem. It is still missing any substantial connection with the public at large. Except for occasional influence during electoral campaigns, none of the studied experiments have garnered sustained support or substantial interest from the public at large.
This volume stands as proof of the ongoing efforts to use participatory governance in critical and democratising ways around the world
This might seem disheartening, especially because there is no practical solution in sight. The electoral defeat of Spanish municipalism, central to this book, heightens this sensation. Yet, there is not much use in despairing, and a temporal prospective might offer some hope. As Gianpaolo Baiocchi reminds in his refreshing concluding remarks, it is not so long ago that the idea of participatory democracy made its irruption in our democracies. Initially championed by social movements and to a lesser extent Left political projects in the 1960s, this idea was later taken up by mainstream policymakers and international agencies. Unsurprisingly, participatory governance has not been able to singlehandedly compete with the broader political trend towards neoliberal governance; indeed, it has had to adapted to it to some extent. The resistance it meets today shows major limitations. Yet, this volume stands as proof of the ongoing efforts to use participatory governance in critical and democratising ways around the world. It also speaks to the fact that there is great social scientific scholarship trying to understand and strengthen this phenomenon.
The book often refers to the value of learning from and with activists. Indeed, one of its the most significant contributions is its ability to forge an expanded understanding of participatory governance.
The book often refers to the value of learning from and with activists. Indeed, one of its the most significant contributions is its ability to forge an expanded understanding of participatory governance. This volume goes beyond the perpetual dispute between different conceptions of democracy. It shows how participatory governance todays draws from a rich tapestry of diverse ideas and practices – both old and new. The fact that concepts such as “care”, the “right to the city”, “communalism”, “new municipalism”, “gambiarra” and “decolonisation” are brought together in this volume speaks to the eclectic nature and vitality of contemporary participatory governance. Despite its challenges, participatory governance continues to attract the ingenuity of people and their eagerness for democracy. Persistence is crucial, as these are fundamental ingredients in the struggle to build a more equal and just world.
Note: This post gives the views of the author, and not the position of the LSE Review of Books blog, or of the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Image credit: Dedraw Studio on Flickr.
Nine recommended reads for Women’s History Month 2024
To celebrate Women’s History Month 2024, LSE’s librarian for Gender Studies Heather Dawson recommends nine books written by, and examining the lives of, inspiring women.
As LSE’s Gender Studies librarian, it is my great pleasure to introduce some of my highly recommended books from our collection for Women’s History Month. I hope you find them educational, thought-provoking and inspiring.
During March, look out for the links I will be posting on X and Instagram to other recommended resources available via LSE Library, including databases of articles and primary resources. LSE staff and students can book one-to-one advice sessions for further help researching women’s history resources.
Suffrage and the Arts: Visual Culture, Politics and Enterprise. Miranda Garrett and Zoë Thomas (eds.). Bloomsbury. 2019.LSE is privileged to be the custodian of the magnificent Women’s Library, an archive which includes extensive materials relating to the struggle for the vote. My first choice highlights the way in which visual imagery was used as an important part of the campaign. It includes information on key organisations and discussion of creative art as an expression of protest.
Art and Suffrage: A Biographical Dictionary of Suffrage Artists. Elizabeth Crawford. Francis Boutle Publishers. 2018.For serious researchers of suffrage history, I would strongly recommend any of the reference works by Elizabeth Crawford as key starting points. Her latest book is an invaluable reference for tracing accurate information about the lives of women artists who supported the campaign for the vote in Britain. It also includes some fantastic photographs! You can explore some of the images on the LSE Library Digital Library, including a section on suffrage banners.
As Good as a Marriage: The Anne Lister Diaries, 1836-38. Jill Liddington. Manchester University Press. 2023.Another highlight of the women’s library collection is its selection of biographies of famous and inspiring women. Fans of the Gentleman Jack BBC TV series will be interested to know that we have recently obtained a copy of As Good As a Marriage, an annotated selection of excerpts from the diaries of Anne Lister, a landowner from Yorkshire considered by some as “the first modern lesbian.” This latest volume by historian Jill Liddington focuses on the Lister’s “marriage” to heiress Ann Walker whom she lived with in Shibden Hall, near Halifax. Hear Dr Liddington speak about the book at an event with LSE Library on Wednesday 20 March at 6.00pm.
The Other Emmeline: The Story of Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence. Jane Grant. Francis Boutle Publishers. 2023.Another recent edition from a great friend of The Women’s Library, Jane Grant focuses on the life of Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence. In 2018 one of the LSE towers was renamed in her honour to recognise her contribution to the struggle for women’s suffrage.
The title refers to the fact that she is often overshadowed by her contemporary in the Women’s Social and Political Union, Emmeline Pankhurst. However, Pethick-Lawrence’s achievements, alongside her husband, in founding the newspaper Votes for Women and in continuing to campaign for equal rights for women during the 1920s and1930s as part of the leadership of the Women’s Freedom League should not be forgotten.
A Woman in History: Eileen Power, 1889-1940. Maxine Berg. Cambridge University Press. 2023.
Of course, the collection includes biographies of famous LSE staff and alumni. A key example is that of economic historian Eileen Power who was appointed as a Chair in Economic History at LSE in 1931 and was influential in founding the Economic History Review journal as well as in developing children’s radio broadcasting on historical topics. As she died young, the most well-known biography of her life is now quite old, written by Maxine Berg.
Square Haunting: Five Women, Freedom and London Between the Wars. Francesca Wade. Faber & Faber. 2020. However, I was fascinated to see her included in a recent joint biography. Power is considered alongside Virginia Woolf, detective writer Dorothy L Sayers, classical scholar Jane Harrison, and modernist poet HD, who all lived nearby Mecklenburgh Square at some time from the 1920s to the 1950s. Find out more about their trailblazing (and often glamourous) lives in this recording from a 2020 LSE Library.
Angela Davis: An Autobiography. Angela Y Davis. Hamish Hamilton. 2022.
Our biographies concentrate on both well- and lesser-known figures. One which I personally recommend for her sheer endurance in the face of adversity is the renowned Angela Davis. Davis, an American political activist and academic has been involved in struggles faced by Black people, women and LGBTQ+ communities for decades.
The Hindu Bard: The Poetry of Dorothy “Dorf” Bonarjee. Dorothy Bonarjee (author) Mohini Gupta and Andrew Whitehead (eds.). Honno. 2023.A lesser-known figure I was astounded to discover via a BBC radio documentary was Dorothy “Dorf” Bonarjee: the first Asian woman to win the Bardic chair in 1914 for poetry at Eisteddfod, University College of Wales for verse submitted under a pseudonym. Her achievement was even more astonishing considering at the time women needed a chaperone to attend lectures. Examples of her poetry have been collected in this recent volume edited by Mohini Gupta and Andrew Whitehead.
Warrior Queens & Quiet Revolutionaries: How Women (Also) Built the World. Kate Mosse. Mantle. 2022.
Finally, I suggest Kate Mosse’s Warrior Queens & Quiet Revolutionaries. This is a good book to dip into to get a sense of the sheer number of influential women worldwide who made significant political, cultural and economic impacts during their lifetimes, but are now often overlooked. During this month, you can explore the padlet I will be developing based on the book’s selection of notable women.
Note: This reading list gives the views of the author and not the position of the LSE Review of Books blog, or of the London School of Economics.
Is Artificial Intelligence Racist? The Ethics of AI and the Future of Humanity – review
Arshin Adib-Moghaddam‘s Is Artificial Intelligence Racist? The Ethics of AI and the Future of Humanity examines the roots of racism in AI algorithms, tracing them to Enlightenment ideologies. Marta Soprana finds the book a densely-packed and thought-provoking caution on the dystopian consequences of our current trajectory of techno-racism, which we may still have time to avert.
Since the launch of ChatGPT by Open AI in November 2022, the debate surrounding the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) in our everyday life has intensified. Although many recognise that AI has the potential to generate significant economic and social opportunities, its use raises substantial ethical concerns. Besides the misuse of personal data, particularly worrying are risks associated with the discriminatory outcomes of algorithmic decision-making, frequently reported in the media.
In his book Is Artificial Intelligence Racist? The Ethics of AI and the Future of Humanity, Arshin Adib-Moghaddam – Professor of Global Thought and Comparative Philosophies at SOAS University of London and Fellow of Huges Hall, University of Cambridge – addresses this issue by discussing how and why racism permeates algorithms and what a misogynistic and discriminatory AI means for the future of humanity. His position is clear: current social manifestations of AI are rooted in Enlightenment racism, and if nothing is done about it, the future for society and human security will be under threat. If techno-racism and its underlying “anti-human perfectionism” go unchallenged, he forewarns, we might face a dystopian future where Artificial General Intelligence systems will see humans as inferior and unworthy, threatening human beings’ very existence.
If techno-racism and its underlying “anti-human perfectionism” go unchallenged, [the author] forewarns, we might face a dystopian future where Artificial General Intelligence systems will see humans as inferior and unworthy, threatening human beings’ very existence.
The book’s stated ambition is to “contribute to the supervision of AI systems in accordance with shared ethical standards to ensure our individual human security”. It flags dangerous dilemmas created by AI which humanity never faced before and contextualises it in an historical analysis.
Adib-Moghaddam organises his analysis around five themes, one for each chapter, before concluding with a proposed manifesto for the future of AI. Chapter One (“Beyond Human Robots”) sets the stage for the core argument, as it explains how the widespread racism and bias that permeate today’s algorithms and society find their roots in the Enlightenment, which formalised and legalised a hierarchical system of discrimination between people based on race and gender. Positing that supervising machines and preventing algorithmic biases from destroying equal opportunity is first and foremost a philosophical challenge, the author argues that for AI to develop with human security, justice, and equality in mind we must reappraise the problematic legacies of the Enlightenment and work towards reforming its hierarchical and imperialistic system.
The widespread racism and bias that permeate today’s algorithms and society find their roots in the Enlightenment, which formalised and legalised a hierarchical system of discrimination between people based on race and gender.
Further elaborating on this point, in Chapter Two (“The Matrix Decoded”) he warns against the dangers of techno-utopianism, arguing that the various narratives surrounding the development of AI systems are imbued with ideas of positivism, causalism, and parsimony that help to explain how and why technology facilitates various forms of misogyny and discrimination. In particular, he contends that the controversial social and cultural legacies of the Enlightenment will continue to pollute both the thinking of software developers as well as the datasets feeding into AI systems, “as long as modern racism is accepted as part of our social reality”.
[Adib-Moghaddam] uses the killing of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani by a US air strike to warn of the dangers associated with automated, remote weapon systems and AI technologies
Across the remaining three themes, Adib-Moghaddam reiterates his warning about the dangers of the unsupervised development and usage of AI for humankind, as he describes the profound impact that racist and discriminatory AI technologies can have on society, human rights, international security, and the world order in Chapter Three (‘Capital Punishment), Chapter Four (‘Techno-Imperialism’) and Chapter Five (‘Death Techniques’). For example, he uses the killing of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani by a US air strike to warn of the dangers associated with automated, remote weapon systems and AI technologies, such as lack of accountability, bypassing of international law, and “democratization of death”.
The author concludes his book with a manifesto for the future. Advocating for a “GoodThink” approach, he calls for the decolonisation of AI and for infusing algorithms “with a language of poetic empathy, love, hope and care” in order for this technology to be a constructive rather than destructive force. While Adib-Moghaddam maintains that we are fully equipped to embrace the challenges posed by AI at this “pivotal juncture of our existence as homo sapiens”, he warns that we need to act now in a manner that integrates national and industry-led efforts to promote ethical and trustworthy AI with international UN-led initiatives.
We need to act now in a manner that integrates national and industry-led efforts to promote ethical and trustworthy AI with international UN-led initiatives.
With its philosophical approach to understanding how the past influences AI development and how actions in the present can help change the future of humanity, Is Artificial Intelligence Racist? offers a new and interesting perspective on one of the key questions that permeate today’s debate on the ethics and regulation of AI. In this thought-provoking book, the author strikes a good balance between his harsh assessment of the perils of uncontrolled techno-utopianism rooted in the problematic legacy of the Enlightenment and a somewhat encouraging view that the battle for humanity is not lost if we are able to seize the moment and work together to develop ethical AI systems based on equality and inclusivity.
While its relatively short length and catchy title may appeal to a large audience, Is Artificial Intelligence Racist? is not for everyone. In its less than 150 pages, Adib-Moghaddam packs so much food for thought that readers who are less well versed in philosophical studies and used to a more straightforward and linear argumentation may find this book somewhat difficult to grasp. They may require multiple reads to fully understand the intricacies of the philosophical schools and theories at the basis of the analysis and to digest the book’s core arguments. Still, if one is up to the challenge and wants a book that will make them think, Is Artificial Intelligence Racist? will not disappoint.
This post gives the views of the author, and not the position of the LSE Review of Books blog, or of the London School of Economics and Political Science. The LSE RB blog may receive a small commission if you choose to make a purchase through the above Amazon affiliate link. This is entirely independent of the coverage of the book on LSE Review of Books.
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Labour ‘shuts out’ Black MPs and groups from ‘race equality’ launch
Black MPs and groups were ‘shut out’ of Keir Starmer’s ‘race equality’ launch last night. Several had expected to attend the event in Tottenham, but were not given the new location after Starmer and Shadow Foreign Secretary David Lammy cancelled the original meeting to avoid facing protesters eager to challenge them over their support for Israel’s war crimes.
Black paper The Voice has reported that:
Black MPs, community media and leading campaign groups were not invited, leading to accusations from party members we spoke to that the Labour party intentionally excluded them in a bid to censor opportunities to grill party leader Keir Starmer and equalities secretary Anneliese Dodds preventing any real scrutiny of the Race Equality Act plans which were launched back in 2020.
This appears to have left Doreen Lawrence, a Starmer supporter, as essentially the only Black attendee – and ensured that no Black MPs or activists who might have challenged Starmer and his equalities spokeswomen Anneliese Dodds about the lack of substance in their ‘plan’.
Diane Abbott, Britain’s first Black woman MP, dismissed Labour’s plan as ‘window dressing’:
The proposed Race Equality Act is just window dressing. The foremost Black media organisation, The Voice, was not invited to the launch and most Black MPs were excluded. This reveals the reality of where Keir Starmer’s Labour party really stands on fighting anti-Black racism.
Even the paper-thin plan is unlikely ever to come to fruition under habitual promise-shredder Keir Starmer.
Labour’s issues with Black people and other racialised groups under Keir Starmer go back to the beginning of his tenure, when he named an all-white ‘diversity panel’ and excluded Labour’s most senior ethnic minority staffer. Since then, the party has been embroiled in rampant Islamophobia, attacks on Black women MPs and other senior elected figures, wholesale deselection of Black councillors and blocking of Black candidates in areas with large Black communities and more, as well as disgraceful racism toward Gypsy Roma people and naming an entirely male, entirely white panel to select local authority election candidates.
This report is true. I can confirm that Black journalists were excluded too.
https://t.co/G4BUu9hXXA
— Nadine White. (@Nadine_Writes) February 6, 2024
The party has also done nothing to root out the embedded racism exposed by the Forde Report, which Starmer reluctantly commissioned under pressure, then ignored when he could no longer delay its publication.
Read the full story on The Voice here.
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‘Cold, horrible’ Starmer fails to impress even ‘select’ audience after fleeing Gaza protest
‘Equality’ policy launch flops after even hand-picked audience finds him jingoistic and unpleasant
‘Cold and horrible’ – and spineless – Starmer at his ‘jingoistic’ policy launch
Keir Starmer delivered his latest policy con to a hand-picked audience and no press on Monday – after cancelling his main launch because of a planned pro-Palestinian protest, outside the original Tottenham venue, against his support for Israel’s genocide in Gaza – and it flopped.
According to Sky’s Serena Barker-Singh, even though Labour had winnowed down the audience to a ‘select’ few and excluded all the media, the ‘favoured’ attendees found Starmer ‘cold and horrible’ and his presentation ‘jingoistic’, with ‘union jacks everywhere’.
Starmer becomes less popular the more people see of him and it seems his advisers recognise that – but even hiding him from all but a few true believers doesn’t work, because they find themselves disliking him too.
And with Starmer’s record of breaking every promise, his ‘policy’ to supposedly improve equality is as meaningless as the fetid air it takes to speak it.
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Understanding Humans: How Social Science Can Help Solve Our Problems – review
In Understanding Humans: How Social Science Can Help Solve Our Problems, David Edmonds curates a selection of interviews with social science researchers covering the breadth of human life and society, from morality, bias and identity to kinship, inequality and justice. Accessible and engaging, the research discussed in the book illuminates the crucial role of social sciences in addressing contemporary societal challenges, writes Ulviyya Khalilova.
Understanding Humans: How Social Science Can Help Solve Our Problems. David Edmonds. SAGE. 2023.
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In the Social Science Bites podcast series, David Edmonds, a Consultant Researcher and Senior Research Associate at the Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics, collaborated with Nigel Warburton to explore the dynamics of modern society, interviewing eminent social and behavioural scientists on different topics. The engaging discussions that resulted led Edmonds to curate a selection of the episodes in a written format to bring the research to new audiences. The resulting book, Understanding Humans: How Social Science Can Solve Our Problems, offers valuable insights into various aspects of human life and society, covering subjects from morality, bias and identity to kinship, inequality and justice.
Understanding Humans […] offers valuable insights into various aspects of human life and society, covering subjects from morality, bias and identity to kinship, inequality and justice.
In his foreword to the book, Edmonds highlights that the selection of interviews, which translate into different chapters, reflect his own interests, though the criteria for their inclusion remains undisclosed. The book consists of eighteen chapters split between five thematic sections titled, respectively: Identity, How We Think and Learn, Human Behaviour, Making Social Change, and Explaining the Present, and Unexpected. Some topics introduced in one section can also fit into others, leading to overlaps between certain sections.
In his discussion of class, Friedman states that despite educational attainments, class privilege still significantly impacts career progression.
In the section on Identity, Sam Friedman discusses the insufficiency of education to eliminate the influence of class privilege, while Janet Carsten talks about the interconnectedness of kinship with politics, work, and gender. In his discussion of class, Friedman states that despite educational attainments, class privilege still significantly impacts career progression. The level of autonomy in the workplace, alongside one’s position and salary, could indicate whether career success correlates with social class. Friedman suggests that societal beliefs in meritocracy often overlook the inherent class-related barriers that hinder individuals’ opportunities for career development.
In the next section, Daniel Kahneman, Mahzarin Banaji, Gurminder K. Bhambra, Jonathan Haidt, Jo Boaler, and Sasika Sassen discuss various aspects of human thinking and learning. In his chapter on bias, Kahneman sheds light on biases in human thinking, discussing the dual processes of thinking: fast, associative thinking (System 1) and slower, effortful control (System 2). System 2 assists us in providing reasoning or explanations for our conclusions, essentially aiding in articulating our feelings and emotions. Education enhances System 2 and develops rational thinking, although achieving absolute rationality remains an elusive goal.
Boaler challenges the myth of innate mathematical ability, highlighting the crucial role of active engagement in developing mathematical skills.
In her chapter on the “Fear of Mathematics,” Boaler challenges the myth of innate mathematical ability, highlighting the crucial role of active engagement in developing mathematical skills. Deep thinking is crucial for developing maths skills, but it is a slow process that requires time. There is also a need for reforms in maths education, particularly addressing the issue of timed assessments that impede the brain’s capacity to develop mathematical skills effectively. Boaler states that the purpose of mathematics shouldn’t glorify speed, considering that many proficient mathematicians acknowledge working at a slower pace.
In the chapter “Before Method,” Sassen discusses how prior experiences shape research approaches, introducing the concept of “before method”, referring to both the desire for conducting research in a particular way and the actual execution of a research study. The rationale behind selecting a specific research method and topic is connected with the pre-existing experience preceding the method itself. Sassen challenges established categories by questioning whether it is possible to perceive things without initially considering categories, potentially influencing the direction of the study. She acknowledges that her awareness of prior research studies, established categories, and personal life experiences significantly shape her perception of the world as a researcher.
Following this, Stephen Reicher, Robert Shiller, David Halpern, and Valerie Curtis talk about various facets of human behaviour. Reicher discusses group dynamics, elucidating how physical proximity and psychological commonality foster different groups. Reicher also posits that group boundaries are loose and attributes this to the social changes, which, according to his explanation, result from a we-they dichotomy. Understanding intergroup interactions is crucial, particularly when individuals might not wish to be associated with confrontational aspects. However, belonging to a specific group often leads to labelling individuals, linking all their actions with that group, despite the distinctive nature of their involvement.
Halpern in his chapter on nudging explains that humans are not solely rational beings; their behaviour is influenced by various factors including impulses and emotions.
Halpern in his chapter on nudging explains that humans are not solely rational beings; their behaviour is influenced by various factors including impulses and emotions. He elaborates on how nudging proves beneficial for jobseekers, where incorporating specific human-related elements in emails encourages them to attend interviews. Halpern also posits that our inherent ‘groupish’ tendencies are intricately linked to human psychology. Various factors influence our proximity or distance from others, ultimately affecting societal progress, including economic development. Trust, for instance, varies significantly among different social classes. An individual from an impoverished social class facing financial challenges tends to have lower social trust. Conversely, someone from an affluent background might experience the opposite due to their social circle being influenced by their wealth.
Chenoweth’s research highlights the efficacy of nonviolent political action when contrasted with violent approaches, emphasising its higher success rates and potential to facilitate democratic transitions.
In the section on “Making Social Change” Jennifer Richeson, Erica Chenoweth, and Alison Liebling discuss how employing various approaches and research methods can drive social changes. Chenoweth’s research highlights the efficacy of nonviolent political action when contrasted with violent approaches, emphasising its higher success rates and potential to facilitate democratic transitions. Within the political sphere, an emerging trend is the digital revolution, distinct in some aspects from other revolutions. Erica Chenoweth also states that the digital revolution might foster a misleading impression by mobilising thousands to march in the streets.
In the section “Explaining the Present and the Unexpected,” Hetan Shah discusses the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on social and economic spheres, while Bruce Hood talks about supernatural attitudes or beliefs. Shah elucidates how the pandemic has shifted societal norms and behaviour. He also draws attention to the impact of these norms on human behaviour and the potential for fostering a fair society. Examining the pandemic from multiple angles – medical, social, and economic – deepens our understanding of human behaviour Shah emphasises that social sciences play a crucial role in unveiling how biases shape our thoughts and actions, addressing the social problems.
[Understanding Humans] provides readers with a compelling overview of exceptional research studies on how we think and act as individuals, and the social, economic, educational and political structures that we operate within.
Overall, the eclectic chapters in ‘Understanding Humans: How Social Science Can Solve Our Problems’ illuminate the profound role of social sciences in exploring and addressing social issues. This book serves as a valuable resource for a broad audience, being accessible and engaging for readers without prior knowledge or expertise in the fields drawn upon by the researchers. It provides readers with a compelling overview of exceptional research studies on how we think and act as individuals, and the social, economic, educational and political structures that we operate within.
This post gives the views of the author, and not the position of the LSE Review of Books blog, or of the London School of Economics and Political Science. The LSE RB blog may receive a small commission if you choose to make a purchase through the above Amazon affiliate link. This is entirely independent of the coverage of the book on LSE Review of Books.
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The Crucible of Desegregation: The Uncertain Search for Educational Equality – review
In The Crucible of Desegregation: The Uncertain Search for Educational Equality, R. Shep Melnick examines the evolution of federal school desegregation policy in the US from 1954 through the termination of desegregation orders in the first decades of the 21st century. Combining legal analysis with a focus on institutional relations, Melnick’s analysis of the difficulty of defining and implementing desegregation is a valuable contribution to the fields of law, history and educational studies, writes Pabitra Saha.
The Crucible of Desegregation: The Uncertain Search for Educational Equality. R. Shep Melnick, The University of Chicago Press. 2023.
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R. Shep Melnick’s The Crucible of Desegregation examines desegregation policies in the US since the 1950s. The freedom to attend a desegregated school was declared a national constitutional right by the Supreme Court in Brown v. Board of Education in 1954, yet the ruling was rife with major contradictions. The Supreme Court has never provided a precise definition of desegregation or established a methodology for weighing conflicting views. Combining legal analysis with a focus on institutional relations, particularly the interactions between federal judges and administrators, Melnick examines the inconsistent development of federal school desegregation policies through the termination of desegregation orders.
The freedom to attend a desegregated school was declared a national constitutional right by the Supreme Court in Brown v. Board of Education in 1954, yet the ruling was rife with major contradictions.
The book begins by providing a thorough policy history of desegregation, from Brown to the revocation of several court decrees in the early 21st century. Melnick’s legal analysis pays particular attention to the symbolic bond that early courts and agencies formed, the Supreme Court’s nine justices’ inability to give the lower courts clear guidance, the use of creative judicial remedies, and the varied ways that lower courts responded to the complex problems they faced. The author notes that in the past 50 years, immigration, globalisation, and technological advancement have made education significantly more crucial for achieving financial success.
Melnick’s legal analysis pays particular attention to the symbolic bond that early courts and agencies formed, the Supreme Court’s nine justices’ inability to give the lower courts clear guidance, the use of creative judicial remedies, and the varied ways that lower courts responded to the complex problems they faced.
The vagueness of the declared purpose of “desegregation”, as well as the near-universal dogmatic insistence that the only meaning of that term was the one consistent with the constitution (Brown), and the objective of racial justice hang over the whole six-decade saga. Chapter 1, “Why Desegregation Still Matters” raises the question, “to what extent will the federal judiciary, stocked with many additional Republican appointees, build upon or limit the efforts by the executive branch?” (21). Melnick argues that the legacy of the desegregation effort extends far beyond race and schooling.
Chapter 2, “The Great Debate,” examines several perspectives on desegregation along with data demonstrating the results of desegregation initiatives. It describes the “color-blind/limited intervention” perspective, and the “racial isolation/equal educational opportunity” position which the author terms the two most dominant viewpoints. Both strategies offer substantial advantages and disadvantages, and because of this, few judges have been ready to fully adopt either. The author’s examination of how interpretations of desegregation are inconclusive and variable explains why desegregation, the unitary (integrated) school system, and resegregation are worlds apart from the educational practices that affect the lives of teachers and students.
Chapter 3, “Critical Juncture” highlights some of the major events in the history of the federal de-segregation effort. These include the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which brought two federal departments to the aid of civil rights litigants, the Fifth Circuit’s Jefferson County decisions from 1966 to 1967, which sped up desegregation in the South, and the Supreme Court’s flurry of desegregation decisions. The tortuous evolution of federal desegregation policy in the executive branch, courts, and to a lesser extent, Congress provided the desegregation of Southern schools and shifted the focus to Congress and the executive.
Chapter 4, “Breakthrough: “The Reconstruction of Southern Education,” examines how, in the second half of the 1960s, the Fifth Circuit collaborated with the Office of Civil Rights to overcome Southern opposition to desegregation. It took tremendous institutional innovation to accomplish this. The “Supreme Court [made] it clear that school boards cannot avoid their responsibility to create a unitary system simply by resorting to nondiscriminatory, geographical zoning where such zoning would be ineffective” (105). The Supreme Court delivered 25 desegregation rulings during those years, more than twice as many as it had previously or after more than a decade of dodging the topic. The Court’s view on “racial isolation/equal educational opportunity” became more ambivalent as a result of the combination of these rulings. But the judges never explained this change. Chapter 5, “Supreme Abdication,” contends that the major cause of the failure has been the inability of the justices to agree on the underlying nature of the enterprise (143).
The way the structural injunction developed reflected the significant federal authority exerted both to reform education in metropolitan areas across the nation and to reconstruct education in the South. To enable educational equality, the judges need to pay attention to what happens inside schools in terms of tracking, discipline, professional training, curriculum, bilingual education, special education, guidance, and counselling programmes, which are elements of judicial security.
The ad-hoc character of the desegregation process and the decentralisation of judicial policymaking had to cater to the different varieties of desegregation, and the experiences of these, which were changing over time.
The ad-hoc character of the desegregation process and the decentralisation of judicial policymaking had to cater to the different varieties of desegregation, and the experiences of these, which were changing over time. The “unitary school system” and the many variations between judges and localities are discussed in Chapter 7’s section on “Varieties of Desegregation Experiences.” It is difficult to summarise how court-ordered integration initiatives transpired nationwide, and the court judgment depends on how “desegregation” is understood. So, Melnick pieces together the Supreme Court’s ruling on the appropriate time for school districts to be awarded “unitary status,” the reactions of subordinate courts to the rulings, how court rulings have encouraged resegregation, and how the revocation of court orders has impacted minority students’ academic performance.
As Melnick contends, ‘educational reform calls for consistent work, clarity about goals, appreciation of modest improvements, awareness of unintended effects, and frequent evaluation of results.’
Chapter 9, “Looking Beyond Courts” contends that, despite their prominence, judges have not been the only federal authorities tasked with ensuring educational equality of opportunity. The first section of the chapter looks at legislative initiatives to use funding and requirements to enhance education for underprivileged and underrepresented children, English-language learners, women and girls, and students with disabilities. The problems of school desegregation included resource inequalities, specialised programmes for English learners, criteria for assigning students to special education, discrimination in tracking and discipline, and racial harassment, which were the most controversial education issues addressed by the federal government. As Melnick contends, “educational reform calls for consistent work, clarity about goals, appreciation of modest improvements, awareness of unintended effects, and frequent evaluation of results.” There are several veto points in the legislative process because of the separation of powers, bicameralism, and decentralisation within both chambers of Congress. So, the changing scenario of the education system with the federal role expanded due to political institutions’ efforts.
Equality and justice are the crucial aspects of the desegregation of school education, but the task of bearing out these principles across the federal US in the past seven decades has been enormously complicated as the author argues.
Melnick observes that, “[i]n recent decades, the well-educated have become richer and the poorly educated poorer, making the quality of public education more important than ever before” (249). Equality and justice are the crucial aspects of the desegregation of school education, but the task of bearing out these principles across the federal US in the past seven decades has been enormously complicated as the author argues, a greater emphasis is now being placed on raising the standard of instruction in urban school systems rather than on preserving racial balance.
The progress of American civil rights generally largely developed from school desegregation.
Critically, the progress of American civil rights generally largely developed from school desegregation. As Melnick states, “Equal and racially integrated schools are good for students and good for democracy in any educational setting.” The Crucible of Desegregation offers a patchwork view of desegregation policy, revealing how administrators and judges in lower courts played a pivotal role, with remarkable achievements and setbacks alike. The book is a valuable and pragmatic resource for those interested in learning more about this history of desegregation and the court system in the US. Its focus on equality and justice reflects a world in which initiatives like the UN Sustainable Development Goals aim to drive greater equality and justice for disadvantaged groups.
Note: This review gives the views of the author, and not the position of the LSE Review of Books blog, or of the London School of Economics and Political Science. The LSE RB blog may receive a small commission if you choose to make a purchase through the above Amazon affiliate link. This is entirely independent of the coverage of the book on LSE Review of Books.
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French Senate proposes law making anti-Zionism a criminal offence with up to 5 years jail
The UK’s exceptionalising of apartheid state mirrored in France
Members of the French Senate have proposed a law to punish critics of Israel by prison sentences and massive fines.
The planned new law proposes three tiers of punishment, with those considered to have transgressed to face prison sentences of up to five years and a fine of up to €100,000:
- « Art. 25. – Those who contest the existence of the State of Israel by one of the means set out in Article 23 shall be punished by one year’s imprisonment and a fine of 45,000 euros.
- “Insult committed against the State of Israel, by any of the means set out in Article 23, shall be punishable by two years’ imprisonment and a fine of 75,000 euros.
- “Those who, by the same means, have directly provoked hatred or violence against the State of Israel shall be punished by five years’ imprisonment and a fine of 100,000 euros.”
Article 23 referred to in the bill covers a comprehensive list of means of transmitting the supposedly offensive words:
by speeches, shouts or threats made in public places or meetings, or by writings, prints, drawings, engravings, paintings, emblems, images or any other written medium, speech or image, sold or distributed, offered for sale or exhibited in public places or meetings
Zionism is the political proposition that a state of Israel should exist as an ethno-nationalist entity, so the French Senate is proposing to criminalise opposition to a political viewpoint and the racism that springs from it. Israel’s treatment of non-Jewish and particularly Muslim residents in Israel, and especially of the Palestinian people, has been criticised as apartheid by the United Nations, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and human rights groups in Israel, so presumably UN representatives and human rights activists in France face prison and a fine if they repeat the official positions of internationally-recognised bodies.
Israel is currently engaged in the slaughter of many thousands of Palestinian civilians, half of them children, and Israeli ministers have referred to Palestinians as sub-human ‘animals’.
As critics of the bill have pointed out, there is no law against insulting France or other countries, to the Senate is proposing to offer Israel a protection against criticism that is unique among nations. The situation mirrors that in the UK, where the Westminster government is pushing through a ‘pro-apartheid’ law banning public bodies from choosing not to buy goods or services from Palestinian land that has been illegally-occupied by Israeli settlers. The UK bill similarly singles out Israel for exceptional treatment, banning even government ministers from making any future decisions sanctioning Israel – no matter what that country does. The so-called Labour ‘opposition’ is declining to oppose it.
Despite these clamp-downs on solidarity with oppressed and ethnically-cleansed Palestinians, protests for the freedom of the Palestinian people and against Israel’s genocide are huge and growing every week.
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The University of the Living Dead: zombie leadership is alive (?) and well
The iconic film maker George A. Romero died recently. Stella Jones-Devitt argues that his zombie films, which aimed to satirise consumerism, racism and other social concerns, have parallels with present-day higher education.
The post The University of the Living Dead: zombie leadership is alive (?) and well appeared first on Wonkhe.
Diversity troubles – comprehensive solutions to HE’s racial segregation
Sol Gamsu and Michael Donnelly examine the geography of ethnicity and higher education in the UK and argue that a comprehensive university system may hold some of the answers.
The post Diversity troubles – comprehensive solutions to HE’s racial segregation appeared first on Wonkhe.