Description:
Social class, race and gender have historically always been essential markers in deciding who would receive a minimum or inferior education and thus fail to obtain whatever were currently acceptable qualifications. Definitions of the 'less able' or ineducable were based on beliefs in the biological and cultural inferiority of lower social classes, racial and immigrant groups. Professor Tomlinson's aim in her work has always been to introduce sociological, historical and political perspectives into an area dominated by psychological, administrative and technical views and to explain how the individual 'problems' were connected to wider social structures and policies. This unique collection illustrates the development of Professor Tomlinson's thinking over the course of her long and esteemed career.
Review Quotes:
"This book is an excellent read and has much to teach researchers in both the sociology of education and those in inclusive or special education. The former will learn that there is a whole other universe out there; a shadow industry that mops up the mess created by their own. The latter will learn how to think more critically and more broadly about that shadow industry; helping them to realise that the object of their inquiry is an artefact of 'deliberate decisions by people who have the power to make the decisions.'" - Linda J. Graham, Queensland University of Technology, International Journal on School Disaffection
"A a comprehensive anthology that reveals the intersections among education, social class, race, and politics ... this book can function as a practical resource book for scholars and practitioners seeking to gain an international perspective on how economics, race, and politics contribute to the expansion of special education and the worldwide marginalization of ethnic minority students." --Teachers College Record