"Fans of hooks's earlier works, especially the landmark Teaching To Transgress, will welcome this new collection of essays on combating racism and sexism in education. Drawing extensively on her personal experiences as both student and teacher, hooks articulates a vision of democratic, progressive education that focuses on the classroom as a 'life-sustaining and mind-expanding' place. As with her previous books, her latest is passionate, opinionated, and challenging. While her statement that a '[commitment] to teaching well is a commitment to service' will attract some, her claims that racism, sexism, and class conflict are driving forces in the curriculum and in relations between teachers and students will unsettle many. Despite its challenging nature (or, more likely, because of it), the collection will interest students of education, ethnic and cultural studies, and women's studies." — Library Journal
"Refreshingly original thinking about spirituality, family values, and even erotic relationships between professors and students...The author's clear and consistent voice for progressive, democratic education adds an important dimension to society's thinking about shared values and the creation of a loving and fair community." — Publishers Weekly
"Teaching Community is magnificent. Educators, learners, and intellectuals will find the book to be an eye opening piece of work. [hook's] mastery of language, as it always does, creates a highly stimulating space from which readers can learn and actively participate in the analytical process. Black, white, male, female, teacher, and student should read the book for themselves and for the beloved community." — Rolling Out
"hooks addresses many other topics of keen interest to all educators at various stages of their careers." — Rosemary P. Carbine, College of the Holy Cross, Teaching Theology and Religion
Readers of hooks's prolific body of work on feminism, racism, cultural politics, art and education will find much that is familiar here. Grounded in autobiography and storytelling and written for an intelligent lay audience, these essays exhort readers to keep up the struggle in difficult times. A distinguishing characteristic of hooks's work is the challenge to recognize, confront and overcome "white supremacist capitalist patriarchy," a recurring phrase that captures her hallmark theme: oppression occurs at the intersections of race, gender and the dominant economic system. This work updates her thinking with post-September 11 reflections on domination and hope, and contains refreshingly original thinking about spirituality, family values and even erotic relationships between professors and students. hooks, a self-defined "[l]eftist dissident feminist black intellectual," embodies the clash of 20th-century cultural politics. She writes candidly about her own racially segregated youth, her struggles to overcome discrimination in the academic workplace and her efforts to find common ground with white feminists. hooks's voice is unique in that she manages to balance a relentless critique of oppressive forces in society with the open invitation to participate in "beloved communities where there is no domination." Containing more inspiration than concrete strategies, the book may leave practicing teachers wanting more in the way of specifics about how to practice antiracist pedagogy, transform classrooms and bring about a just society. But the author's clear and consistent voice for progressive, democratic education adds an important dimension to society's thinking about shared values and the creation of a loving and fair community. (Oct.) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
Fans of hooks's earlier works, especially the landmark Teaching To Transgress, will welcome this new collection of essays on combating racism and sexism in education. Drawing extensively on her personal experiences as both student and teacher, hooks articulates a vision of democratic, progressive education that focuses on the classroom as a "life-sustaining and mind-expanding" place. As with her previous books, her latest is passionate, opinionated, and challenging. While her statement that a "[commitment] to teaching well is a commitment to service" will attract some, her claims that racism, sexism, and class conflict are driving forces in the curriculum and in relations between teachers and students will unsettle many. Despite its challenging nature (or, more likely, because of it), the collection will interest students of education, ethnic and cultural studies, and women's studies. Recommended for academic collections.-Scott Walter, Washington State Univ. Lib., Pullman Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
