Awakening Democracy through Public Work: Pedagogies of Empowerment
- ISBN-10
- 0826503020
- ISBN-13
- 9780826503022
- Category
- Political Science
- Pages
- 200
- Language
- English
- Published
- 2021-04-30
- Publisher
- Vanderbilt University Press
- Author
- Harry C. Boyte
Description
In the face of authoritarian, divisive trends and multiplying crises, when politics-as-usual is stymied, Awakening Democracy through Public Work shows it is possible to build foundations for a democratic awakening grounded in deep American traditions of a citizen-centered commonwealth. Awakening Democracy through Public Work begins with the story of Public Achievement, a youth civic education and empowerment initiative with roots in the civil rights movement. It describes Public Achievement's first home in St. Bernard's, a low-income Catholic elementary school in St. Paul, Minnesota, and how the program spread across the country and then abroad, giving birth to the larger concept of public work. In Public Achievement, young people practice "citizen politics" as they tackle issues ranging from bullying, racism, and sexual harassment to playground improvements, curriculum changes, and better school lunches. They develop everyday political skills for working across differences and making constructive change. Such citizen politics, more like jazz than a set piece of music, involves the interplay and negotiation of diverse interests and views, sometimes contentious, sometimes harmonious. Public Achievement highlights young people's roles as co-creators—builders of schools, communities, and democratic society. They are not citizens in waiting, but active citizens who do public work. Awakening Democracy through Public Work also describes how public work can find expression in many kinds of work, from education and health to business and government. It is relevant across the sweep of society. People have experimented with the idea of public work in hundreds of settings in thirty countries, from Northern Ireland and Poland to Ghana and Japan. In Burundi it birthed a national initiative to rework relations between villagers and police. In South Africa it helped people in poor communities to see themselves as problem solvers rather than simply consumers of government services. In the US, at Denison University, public work is being integrated into dorm life. At Maxfield School in St. Paul, it is transforming special education. In rural Missouri, it led to the "emPowerU" initiative of the Heartland Foundation, encouraging thousands of young people to stay in the region. In Eau Claire, Wisconsin, it generated "Clear Vision," a program providing government support for citizen-led community improvements. Public work has expanded into the idea of "citizen professionals" working with other citizens, not on them or for them. It has also generated the idea of "civic science," in which scientists see themselves as citizens and science as a resource for civic empowerment. Awakening Democracy through Public Work shows that we can free the productive powers of people to work across lines and differences to build a better society and create grounded hope for the future.
Get the book
Similar books
-
Building America: The Democratic Promise of Public Work
By Harry C. Boyte, Nancy N. KariSee Lizbeth Cohen , Making a New Deal : Industrial Workers in Chicago , 1919-1939 ( New York : Cambridge Press , 1990 ) . 7. Cohen , Making a New Deal , p . 65 . 8. Mike Royko , Boss ( New York : Penguin , 1971 ) , p . 68 . 9.
-
Reinventing Citizenship As Public Work: Citizen-Centered Democracy and the Empowerment Gap
By Harry C. BoyteIn this study for the Kettering Foundation, Harry Boyte examines how these two approaches fail to recognize the power of citizens in work and the workplace." --Kettering Foundation web site
-
Public Policymaking in a Democratic Society: A Guide to Civic Engagement
By Larry N. GerstonThis updated edition includes an all-new case study on the issue of immigration, and all other case studies have been revised.
-
Democracy, Civic Engagement, and Citizenship in Higher Education: Reclaiming Our Civic Purpose
By William V. Flores, Katrina S. RogersTwenty-five leaders from the higher education and service-learning sectors provide insight into what works in building citizenship through civic engagement on their campuses and communities.
-
Democratic Discord in Schools: Cases and Commentaries in Educational Ethics
By Meira Levinson, Jacob Fay... and capacity our society needs for a democratic awakening. Harry C. Boyte is founder of the international youth civic education and empowerment initiative Public Achievement. His newest book is Awakening Democracy Through Public Work ...
-
Mexico's Political Awakening
By Vikram K. ChandTrue democracy has been long in coming to Mexico, but citizen rebellion and the work of social leaders helped bring about dramatic changes at the end of the twentieth century....
-
We the People Politics: The Populist Promise of Deliberative Public Work
By Harry C. Boyte"We the People" politics, or civic agency politics, involves people's capacities to work collectively and reflectively across differences to cope with common problems and to build a democratic life together, capacities long of central ...
-
Handbook of Education Policy
By Gerard A. Postiglione, Christopher J. Johnstone, Wesley R. Teter... public work: Citizen-centered democracy and the empowerment gap. Kettering Foundation Press. Boyte, H. C. (2018). Awakening democracy through public work: Pedagogies of empowerment. Vanderbilt University Press. Boyte, H. C., & Evans ...
-
Mapping Populism: Approaches and Methods
By Amit Ron, Majia NadesanAccessed at Jafet Library, American University of Beirut. Khalaf, S. (2002). Civil and uncivil violence in Lebanon: A history of the internationalization of communal conflict. New York, NY: Columbia University Press. Laclau, E. (2005).
-
Radical: My Journey out of Islamist Extremism
By Maajid NawazRadical, first published in the UK, is a fascinating and important look into one man's journey out of extremism and into something else entirely. This U.S. edition contains a "Preface for US readers" and a new, updated epilogue.