Sociology of Education

Carlos Alberto Torres is Director of the Latin American Center at the University of California, Los Angeles and coauthor, with Raymond Allen Morrow, of Social Theory and Education: A Critique of Theories of Social and Cultural Reproduction, also published by SUNY Press. Theodore R. Mitchell is Dean of the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles.

"Stressing power, domination, and class, as well as the issues of race and gender, this review and assessment of 'emerging perspectives' in the sociology of education challenges crucial assumptions of postmodern thinking (read contemporary social theory) thoughtfully, systematically, and in an engaging manner. The book is compelling as a whole and in its parts." — Sheryl L. Lutjens, Northern Arizona University"The topics covered in this book include some of the more difficult and important issues in the field of sociology of education today, bringing new insights and a fresh perspective. In the theoretically focused chapters, there is a concerted attempt to push the discourse into new territories that combine and integrate such traditionally separated categories as race, class, and gender. The empirical pieces are similarly, if not more, provocative, shedding new light on such recurrent, problematic areas as the increasing power of conservative, right-wing forces in curriculum development, the elimination or modification of high school tracking policies, and the experiences of students of color in both secondary and higher education. The comparative approach taken by several chapters is not typically seen in United States-based studies and adds a thoughtful, important dimension. True to the original promise outlined in the introduction, the book draws from voices that represent a range of race and gender experiences." — Pia Lindquist Wong, California State University, Sacramento

• 1. Introduction Carlos Alberto Torres and Theodore R. Mitchell2. Education and the Reproduction of Class, Gender, 19 and Race: Responding to the Postmodern Challenge Raymond A. Morrow and Carlos Alberto Torres3. The Sociology of Knowledge and the Sociology of Education: Michel Foucault and Critical Traditions Thomas S. Popkewitz4. Becoming Right: Education and the Formation of Conservative Movements Michael W. Apple and Anita Oliver5. Social Closure, Professional Domination, and the New Middle Strata: Rethinking Credentialist Theories of Education Raymond A. Morrow and Carlos Alberto Torres6. Critical Pedagogy as Performative Practice: Memories of Whiteness Henry A. Giroux7. Tracking, Detracking, and the Politics of Educational Reform: A Sociological Perspective Amy Stuart Wells and Jeannie Oakes8. Structuring College Opportunities: A Cross-Case Analysis of Organizational Cultures, Climates, and Habiti Patricia M. McDonough9. Critical Race Theory: Marginality and the Experience of Students of Color in Higher Education Daniel G. Solórzano and Octavio Villalpando10. Historical Perspectives on Class and Race in Education: The Case of School Reform in the New South, 1890–1910 Theodore R. Mitchell11. From Soweto to the South Bronx: African Americans and Colonial Education in the United States Gloria Ladson-BillingsContributors Index