Privatization, Commercialization, and Disappearing Spaces for Public Scholarship

Session Type: Invited Speaker Session

Abstract

As a result of privatization and commercialization, the space for public debate and the creation of public knowledge is disappearing. This session examines the challenges and opportunities of doing public scholarship in educational research in this context. Theorists have long conceived of public schools as protected spaces, free of the pressures and influences of private interests. However, commercialization in schools and the privatization of entire educational systems blur the distinction between public space and private business, challenging traditional modes of research and democratic engagement within schools and communities. Session contributors will address the ongoing transformations of public space and consider how public scholars can connect their work to that of community-based actors—nationally and globally—as a means of defending and extending the civic space necessary to effectively promote equity and social justice.

Sub Unit

• AERA Presidential Session

Chair

• Anthony A Berryman, University of California - Los Angeles

Participants

• Alex J. Molnar, University of Colorado - Boulder

• Kristen L. Buras, Georgia State University

• Raynard Sanders, The New Orleans Imperative

• Patrick Geary, UNICEF

Discussant

• John S. Rogers, University of California - Los Angeles