Schooling In The Age Of Austerity Urban Education And The Struggle For Democratic Life

"Schooling in the Age of Austerity examines the fragmentation of human security in urban public schools and lives of young people amid escalating global economic volatility and domestic social polarization. In accessible and vivid language, Means confronts how neoliberal restructuring and crisis have contributed to the fraying of the urban social contract, processes of violence and criminalization, and the erosion of the educative and human development capacity of urban public schools serving historically disadvantaged and marginalized communities. Through an ethnographic case study in a low-income and racially segregated neighborhood and public high school in the city of Chicago, Means highlights the voices and experiences of educators and young people living and working at the margins of the new urban geography. Despite precarious conditions, Means demonstrates that there exists a wealth of positive social relations, knowledge, and desire for change among educators, youth, and communities that can be built upon and nurtured in order to develop more ethical and restorative approaches to urban schooling and for promoting more secure and equitable democratic futures for young people"--