“A Hyper- and Pessimistic Activism’ in a Curriculum Master’s Course

• In Event: Roundtable Session 109
  In Roundtable Session: Curriculum of Resistance: Learning From the Others

Abstract

This paper explores an activist stance that has received little attention in critical education scholarship—Foucault’s (1983) notion of “a hyper- and pessimistic activism.” It explores the possibilities, limits, and tensions of this stance through (1) a conceptual argument, (2) discussion of a master’s curriculum seminar informed by the work of Foucault and post-structural feminisms, and (3) a case study of two high school teachers who attributed their professional renewal and activism to this curriculum course. The aim of the paper is to explore critical perspectives and practices that do not call for academics to raise teachers’ political awareness, offer visions for the future, or privilege academic research and theory in projects of educational and social change.

Author

• Jory J. Brass, Arizona State University