The Purpose(s) of Educator Organizing in Social Justice Caucuses

• In Event: Teachers' Grassroots Organizing and Charter Schools

Abstract

With social justice caucus organizers leading some of the most significant labor struggles in recent history, it is crucial for activists, educators, and scholars to better understand the purpose of caucus organizing. In this paper, I explore how caucus organizers conceptualize the purpose of their work, bringing their conceptualizations into dialogue with research on educational change, social justice unionism, and social movements. I likewise discuss several ways to understand the variations and tensions between caucus organizers’ conceptualizations at various points in time. As part of this discussion, I propose a model for understanding the development of social justice caucuses over five phases.

Author

• Lauren Stark, University of Maine at Augusta