Education's Prisoners: Schooling, the Political Economy, and the Prison Industrial Complex

by Ken McGrew

Overview

Education’s Prisoners sheds light on the complicated relationship among the educational system, the political economy, and the prison industrial system in the United States. Working within the tradition of critical theory, this critical ethnography posits a more than accidental connection among these phenomena, and engages in a debate with existing literature within critical theory related to structure and agency. The life stories of the participants and their perspectives on their social circumstances provide a tool for deepening and questioning our understandings of these matters. In addition to its substantive findings, this book allows us to see in human terms how structures and forces in society contribute to the outcomes of school failure and incarceration that are usually measured in percentages and correlations. It suggests ways of improving classroom experiences and improving the life chances of young people.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781433101755
Publisher:	Peter Lang Inc., International Academic Publishers
Publication date:	12/01/2007
Series:	Counterpoints Series: Studies in the Postmodern Theory of Education
Pages:	202
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

The Author: Ken McGrew received his Ph.D. in educational policy studies from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. His primary research interests are in social justice, critical theory, philosophical pragmatism, social inequality, social psychology, political socialization, critical legal studies, special education, school reform, school failure, and the prison industrial complex.

Editorial Reviews

«In all too much of the literature in education, the voices and the experiences of the most marginalized youth are invisible. As more and more youth, and especially youth of color, are incarcerated in what might best be called the ‘injustice system’, their voices in particular remain nearly silenced. In this book, Ken McGrew provides a powerful and important corrective to this situation.» (Michael W. Apple, John Bascom Professor of Curriculum and Instruction and Educational Policy Studies, University of Wisconsin, Madison)
«Through in-depth participant observation, Ken McGrew captures life inside a juvenile detention center. This is an important study.» (Stacey J. Lee, Professor of Educational Policy Studies, University of Wisconsin, Madison)

From the Publisher