Reading Resistance: Discourses of Exclusion in Desegregation and Inclusion Debates

by Beth A. Ferri, David J. Connor

Overview

Reading Resistance confronts longstanding exclusionary practices in U.S. public schooling. Beth A. Ferri and David J. Connor trace the interconnected histories of race and disability in the public imagination through their nuanced analysis of editorial pages and other public discourses, including political cartoons and eugenics posters. By uncovering how the concept of disability was used to resegregate students of color after the historic Brown decision, the authors argue that special education has played a role in undermining school desegregation. In its critical, interdisciplinary focus on the interlocking politics of race and disability, Reading Resistance offers important contributions to educational research, theory, and policy.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780820474281
Publisher:	Peter Lang Publishing Inc.
Publication date:	04/01/2006
Series:	Disability Studies in Education
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	244
Sales rank:	405,598
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

The Authors: Beth A. Ferri is Associate Professor in Teaching and Leadership, Cultural Foundations of Education, and Disability Studies at Syracuse University, where she also coordinates the Masters program in Secondary Inclusive Education and the Doctoral program in Special Education, as well as serves on the Advisory Board of the Women’s Studies program. She received her Ph.D. in Special Education and graduate certificate in Women’s Studies at the University of Georgia. For her interdisciplinary scholarship in feminist disability studies and critical disability inquiry, she was recently recognized as an Outstanding Young Scholar in Disability Studies in Education.
David J. Connor is Assistant Professor in the Department of Special Education at Hunter College, City University of New York. He received his Ed.D. from Teachers College, Columbia University. His dissertation research focusing on the intersections of disability, race, and class was awarded the Teachers College President’s Grant for Student Research in Diversity. In addition, he was the recipient of the 2005 Outstanding Young Scholar in Disability Studies in Education.

Editorial Reviews

«‘Reading Resistance’ presents an important and timely discussion of the intersections between white privilege and ableism and the interconnections between IDEA and Brown v. Board of Education… Of key value is the overview of how race becomes an organizing principle of social life and how mainstream classrooms are constructed through rhetorics of ability, ideologies of normalcy, and rituals of exclusion. At the same time, this book is not ‘just theory.’ The authors craft their arguments to clarify complex issues and link them with suggestions for practice. Readers will gain a good sense of what is needed to transform classrooms and schools to allow them to be equitable and just, as well as to contribute to a strong democracy in a multicultural society.» (Ellen Brantlinger, Professor of Curriculum and Instruction, Indiana University, Bloomington)
«Dramatically demonstrates the historical intertwining of the discourses of race and disability in American education. This portrait will relinquish any lingering doubts about the insidious role of racism in creating the perception that students of color are disproportionately ‘disabled.’» (Beth Harry, Professor, Special Education, University of Miami, Florida)

From the Publisher