Fund-Raising Policy and the Struggle for Justice in Ontario, Canada

• In Event: 29.090 - Roundtable Session 9
  In Roundtable Session: 29.090-9 - Political Modes of Reconfiguring the School: Voters, Coalitions, and Spies

Abstract

The paper discusses findings from a critical policy study of how People for Education (P4E), an advocacy group in Ontario, Canada, engaged in a struggle to define and change fundraising policy and promote justice. The study asked: how did P4E define fundraising? How did P4E mobilize its understanding? Data was gathered from interviews with four P4E staff members and from 85 documents published between 1998 and 2012. The analysis found P4E defined fundraising as a means to make up for inadequate government funding of schools and as a practice that creates inequities. P4E mobilized their meanings by collecting and disseminating data, collaborating with others, engaging the media, and reminding the public of the government’s commitment to introduce formal policy.

Author

• Sue Winton, York University