Doing Democracy: Striving for Political Literacy and Social Justice

The 19 chapters presented here by Lund (education, U. of Calgary, Canada) and Carr (education, Youngstown State U., US) are diverse in their theoretical, conceptual, and methodological approaches, but they are united thematically in the belief that democracy, in order to be meaningful and tangible must be connected to education as well as social justice and that it is important to "do" democracy in education, rather than just teach about in a civics course or the like. Topics addressed include democratic education that resists neoliberal global capitalism, critique of essentialist notions of universal citizenship found in formal education, white privilege among teachers and its implication for teaching and learning, rebelliousness and power within the educational context, heteronormative values and the call for "open-mindedness," secular humanism and education in a Middle Eastern context, gender as an integral part of understanding democracy and social justice, the role of colonialism in shaping the present context of primary education for girls in Kenya, the role of science education in fostering democracy, teaching critical economic literacy, pedagogical paradoxes of online activism, fostering moral-democratic competencies in students, and teaching democratic literacy. Annotation c2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)