Roots Of Inequality Research Articles

Community school programmes in Latin America: Imagining the long-term impact of developing pupils’ agency

Community school programmes in Latin America have received relatively little consideration when compared to the amount of research conducted on popular education in the region. This paper revises the literature on community school programmes in the context of the theory of dialogic action and the capability approach. First, the roots of inequality in Latin America are discussed. This is followed by a summary of the literature on community school programmes in Latin America, analysing their differences and commonalities and exploring two different community school programmes operating in the region. A conceptual framework is next presented to explore the role of the progressive educator and individuals’ agency, drawing parallels between the ideas of Paulo Freire and those of M S Archer and Amartya Sen in relation to agency and freedom. The paper concludes by questioning whether, by developing pupils’ agency, community school programmes such as those analysed in this paper, could help to tackle educational inequalities in the long term, with a discussion of the implications for further research.

Réflexions sur le stockage alimentaire en Égypte, de la Préhistoire aux premières dynasties

The late and original way in which Egypt adopted the food production economy was rapidly followed by the birth of a strongly hierarchic state society from the 4th millennium BC. Anthropology emphasizes the role of food storage in the birth of social hierarchy, some authors considering it to be at the roots of inequalities. A technological approach of the different ways of storing shows the variety of their social implications. An examination of archaeological data reveals that the use of underground anaerobic silos allowed the seasonal mobility of the first farmers like those of the Fayum. On the contrary, the storage in built granaries implies sedentism and allows stranglehold on the food supply by some individuals. There is a correlation between the appearance of this form of storage and the accentuation of the social hierarchy in Egypt. Control over these granaries is valued through funerary goods by the elites of the first dynasties.

BOOK/MEDIA REVIEWS

Educational Delusions?: Why Choice Can Deepen Inequality and How to Make Schools Fair, by Gary Orfield and Erica Frankenberg. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2013, 330 pp., $29.95, paperback.What would you do if your child's accessibility to quality education hinged upon your income level? Educational Delusions, appropriately entitled, speaks to this dilemma and to many misconceptions that exist within the American educational system. The key message that the book postulates is that educational equality must prevail and choice, if properly implemented and monitored, is one viable solution. In addition, authors Orfield and Frankenberg inform us that includes the creation of charter and magnet schools, choice-based desegregation plans, transfer rights, and voucher programs (p. 3). There is relevancy and the urgency in balancing opportunities for fair and appropriate education. The authors unpack the value of school choice with empirical evidence that exposes systematic inequalities while at the same time offering viable solutions to end the educational polarization in America.Although the contextual density of the first chapter makes it difficult to read, re-read clarified the authors' base for choice. Furthermore, in true redemptive form, the authors managed to reactivate our interest in this popular subject. This provocative issue of is dear to the hearts of countless parents because our children's future and the quality of the life that resides within the educational opportunities available to them today.The book begins with historical perspective of and clarifies vital link to the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s as well as the development and transition of options since. Then, in explicit detail, Educational Delusions recounts the lack of progress made toward the goal of the Brown v. Board of Education (1954) decision, its intent to desegregate schools, and its relevancy to the legislative journey of choice. The authors also point out the Supreme Court's gradual shift away from desegregation policies, which significantly reduced the effectiveness of the Integration Theory of the 60s and 70s explained by Treisman and Gelade (1980). The Integration Theory, as modified theory of choice, the root of inequality ... in social and economic stratification, whereas the current popular Market Theory, which gives parents options, sees government regulation as a barrier to opportunity and presumes race conscious polices are not needed (pp. 28, 42, 55). Concerned, the authors argue how since its early development continues to perpetuate inequality in educational resources through housing and zoning regulations, leading to the condition known as White flight. This re-segregation occurs at numerous districts nationwide, especially in poverty-stricken regions with substantial Black populations.In examining the progression of choice-from vouchers that emerged prior to Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, to the magnet schools of the 70s, to the charter schools of today-the book illustrates how educational shifts aligned with endured for more than one-half century. Today, the legislative momentum for the Market Theory approach to education is the result of the Supreme Court's 1990s de-emphasis on race-conscious policies. The authors purport that despite the fact that there is no significant academic advantage over public schools, charter schools continue to flourish as the popular choice. …

Pollution and Infant Health.

In this article, I review recent research showing that even relatively low levels of pollution can affect infants' health. This research attempts to go beyond documenting correlations by using sharp changes in pollution levels, carefully selecting control groups (including unexposed siblings as controls for exposed children), and considering behavioral responses to pollution such as maternal mobility. Poor and minority children are more likely to be affected and differential exposure could be responsible for some of the observed group-level differences in health at birth. Policymakers concerned about the roots of inequality should consider the role played by environmental exposures of pregnant mothers.

Microfinance and the Politics of Empowerment: A Critical Cultural Perspective

This article challenges the widely accepted assumption that the provision of microfinance to poor women through organizing them in groups empowers them. The current popular thinking in development studies considers microfinance as the best remedy not only for poverty, but also for social disintegration and women’s subordination. This article argues that such analysis ignores the cultural roots of inequality, subordination and destitution. Drawing on Bourdieu’s sociological frameworks, the article constructs a critical cultural model and elucidates the complexity of gender relations in microfinance process. The article explores gendered cultural norms and expectations that control and influence microfinance practices and contributes towards a more adequate and critical theoretical understanding of its empowerment potential.

What is the nature of the achievement gap, why does it persist and are government goals sufficient to create social justice in the education system?

The ‘achievement gap’ – the term typically used to refer to differences in pupil attainment associated with social class, ethnicity and gender – remains an enduring obstacle to government goals of creating a socially just society. This article explores the nature of the achievement gap and some of the mechanisms that serve to perpetuate disadvantage in education systems providing a context in which to consider the appropriateness of government policies aimed at addressing the gap. Accessing predominantly English research but also consulting studies conducted in other education systems including the US and elsewhere in the UK, we argue that in contrast to its noble rhetoric, government approaches to addressing the achievement gap are preoccupied with standardised assessment and accountability (such as the latest attempt at raising pupil standards in England, the introduction of Academies) while paying little more than lip service to the persistent, underlying roots of inequality.

Whose Occupation? Homelessness and the Politics of Park Encampments

As a progressive policy platform and radical political programme, the right to the city suggests that the formulation of specific policy demands for affordable housing, free transit or municipal services can advance in tandem with a shared political understanding of the underlying roots of inequality and exclusion. The right to the city offers a useful, twofold challenge to the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) movement: to more clearly motivate its tactics in the reclamation of city space; and to cultivate openness to collective political transformation in the midst of struggle. This paper argues that the practical questions associated with OWS encampments—and particularly, the relationship between public space occupations and homelessness—are an opportunity to advance a shared political analysis across an ideologically and tactically fragmented left.

A note on slavery and the roots of inequality

We use various secondary historical sources to compile a database containing information on the number of African slaves received by each destination country between the 16th and 19th centuries. We then construct a measure of intensity of African slavery use based on the flow of slaves received divided by historical populations. We also construct a proxy for the use of native slavery. The slavery variables are highly correlated with current levels of inequality. The correlation between our slavery use variables and inequality is stronger than that observed between inequality and development, geographic characteristics, institutional quality, and provision of public goods. The evidence suggests that use of slavery in the historical past may be an important determinant of the levels of inequality observed today across the globe.

Historical Roots of Inequality in South Africa

ABSTRACT Fundamental rethinking is required to tackle the durability of the legacies of poverty and inequality inherited by the democratic government of South Africa. Such rethinking has to start with an understanding of the long historical processes that brought us to where we are. This paper traces, albeit briefly, the ways in which first land and water, then minerals, capital for investment and finally human capital were accumulated over several centuries primarily (though not exclusively) into white hands. Along the way there is a discussion about the long term consequences of conquest of the Land Act of 1913, of the migrant labour system first entrenched by the mining industry and extended by apartheid, of the Bantu Education Act of 1953, of the barriers to occupational mobility raised by colour restrictions during South Africa's industrial revolution, and by the essentially extractive philosophy that underpins the economy. The net result of this long process is to bequeath to the country today not only widespread poverty but one of the deepest levels of inequality in the world. This history has to be recognized and understood if we are to devise effective strategies to overcome it. Of the many problems facing the South African economy, the four most intractable relate to poverty, unemployment, inequality and environmental sustainability. They are all, of course, interrelated but in this special issue we focus particularly on the inequality whose roots go down deep into the history of the country.

Roots of inequity and injustice: the challenges for music education

Equity and justice are human constructs; the inventions of human imagination. They exist nowhere in nature, in which inequality—the root cause of inequity and injustice—is essential for survival. Our history as a race traces back some two million years, when survival had to trump justice, the latter being an historically recent conception. Music educators in our times have the same obligation as all other citizens, and all other educators—to support and promote ideals of equity and justice in all we do. But we have the particular obligation to relate those ideals to the field—music—in which we are professionals. Attention to equity and justice need not and should not contradict our responsibility to musical learnings, the two seemingly different concerns being entirely compatible. Enhanced musical experience and enhanced moral behavior are reciprocal contributions we uniquely can make to human welfare.

A economia solidária diante das desigualdades

Based on empirical evidences gathered from researches about exemplary experiences in solidary economy, the article discusses the expectations associated to this kind of experiences in face of the question of inequality. In evaluating indicators related to egalitarian principles, it estimates the benefits brought by those undertakings, as well as their limitations when it comes to improve and equalize the life conditions of their participants. Comparing such conclusions with other empirical studies, and considering the debate on the roots of inequalities, the article relates the virtues of the solidary economy to the social protagonism it propitiates to workers, a condition for them to escape from the circles of deprivation, subalternity and disregard reserved to them by the dominant social order.

Introduction: Building an infrastructure for equity in mathematics education

The National Council of Teachers Mathematics (NCTM) has had the most profound influence on reform in mathematics education with the publications of its curriculum, professional teaching, and assessment documents in 1989, 1991, 1995, and 2000. The documents recommend standards for the mathematics curriculum in grades pre-K to12, professional standards for mathematics educators, and assessment standards for evaluating the quality of both student achievement and curriculum. The NCTM documents acknowledge that cultural experiences, social background, and gender of students have been ignored in mathematics education and that differences among students are not taken into account in the teaching and learning of mathematics. The Principles and Standards for School Mathematics (PSSM) (NCTM, 2000) highlighted equity by making it the first principle for reform of school mathematics: Excellence in mathematics education requires equity--... raising expectations for students' learning, developing effective methods of supporting the learning of mathematics by all students, and providing students and teachers the resources they need (p. 12). The PSSM offers a broad view of what it takes to accomplish equity that includes having high expectations for all students, accommodating for differences, and equitable allocation of human and material resources. The PSSM captures the essence of some conditions that lead to inequities in a school context by acknowledging that 1) low expectations negatively impact marginalized students in mathematics, 2) access to quality mathematics is not always equitable, and 3) allocation of material and human resources in not always equitable (NCTM, 2000). The PSSM addresses equity as it relates to curriculum, instruction, and assessment neither situates equity within the larger societal context nor offers suggestions for building an infrastructure for equity in mathematics education. Like the PSSM, other NCTM Standards documents the Assessment Standards for School Mathematics (NCTM, 1995), Professional Standards for Teaching Mathematics (NCTM, 1991), and Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School Mathematics (NCTM, 1989) situates equity only within the context of curriculum, instruction, and assessment. These Standards documents also recognize that inequities exist in mathematics education but they fail to address the causes and roots of inequities. Martin (2003) criticizes NCTM for not taking a stronger position on equity. Martin's criticism focuses on the fact that the Equity Principle does not mention race, racism, and social justice. He states: the Standards contains no explicit or particular references to African American, Latino, Native American and poor students or the conditions they face in their lives outside of school, including the inequitable arrangement of mathematical opportunities in these out of school contexts. I would argue that blanket statements about all students signals an uneasiness or unwillingness to grapple with the complexities and particularities of race, minority/marginalized status, differential treatment, underachievement in deference to the assumption that teaching, curriculum, learning, and assessment are all that matter (p. 10). Martin's criticism provides the basis for examining the complexities that race, racism, and social justice have in mathematics education. According to PSSM (NCTM, 2000), equity is should be a goal for mathematics education. If equity is a goal in mathematics education, then mathematics educators must develop an infrastructure for equity comparable to the infrastructure developed that guided reform in curriculum materials, assessment, and pedagogy (Weissglass, 2000). Too often, race, racism, and social justice are relegated as issues not appropriate for mathematics education when actually these issues are central to the learning and teaching of mathematics for all students. …

The roots of inequity: Romani cultural rights in their historical and social context

My premise in this article is a simple one: first, that the liberty to maintain one's cultural behaviour is dependent upon one's civil liberties; and second, while not all legal rights are civil, all civil rights are nevertheless legal. Furthermore, if we are to deal with the situation effectively, we must address it not only as a cultural or civil or legal issue, but as one having far‐reaching political ramifications as well.

Mortality differentials in Canada, 1951-1971: French, British, and Indians.

Mortality differentials reflect in part the social and economic conditions of groups in society. In this paper, the relationship between ethnic origin and mortality is investigated from the point of view of convergence and minority group status hypotheses. Multivariate methods are used to study differences among the French, the British and Native Indian (includes Metis and Eskimos) populations of Canada over three census periods from 1951 to 1971. A significant downward trend in the death rates of all three subpopulations is noted, but substantial differences persist, as the pace of mortality decline over time varies across the three ethnic groups. In the twenty-year interval between 1951 and 1971, Native Indians have experienced spectacular reductions in their overall death rates, but in comparative terms, their mortality levels still exceed those of the French (who show intermediate levels) and the British ethnic groups. The multivariate analysis provides strong support for the minority status effect, which is taken to suggest that the roots of inequalities in survival probabilities are partly a result of social and economic disparities. The convergence thesis received some support: over time the general pattern is one of declining mortality with some narrowing of the differences. An examination of four broad causes of death (neoplasms, cardiovascular, accidents-violence, and "other") suggests that Native Indians are characteristic of populations undergoing epidemiologic and demographic transitions. Their elevated risk of accidents-violence reflects social disruption in the process of modernization. Causes of death of the French and British populations are characterized by higher risks of cancer and cardiovascular diseases, typical of advanced societies.

Methods of measuring interpersonal relationships

Community school programmes in Latin America have received relatively little consideration when compared to the amount of research conducted on popular education in the region. This paper revises the literature on community school programmes in the context of the theory of dialogic action and the capability approach. First, the roots of inequality in Latin America are discussed. This is followed by a summary of the literature on community school programmes in Latin America, analysing their differences and commonalities and exploring two different community school programmes operating in the region. A conceptual framework is next presented to explore the role of the progressive educator and individuals’ agency, drawing parallels between the ideas of Paulo Freire and those of M S Archer and Amartya Sen in relation to agency and freedom. The paper concludes by questioning whether, by developing pupils’ agency, community school programmes such as those analysed in this paper, could help to tackle educational inequalities in the long term, with a discussion of the implications for further research.