Racial Capitalism and Student Organizing in Schools: School Climate and Student Well-Being as Political Territories

• In Event: The Bigger Picture: The Impact of Policy and Student Organizing on Systemic Change

Abstract

This paper explores what occurs at the intersection of district expectations and BIPOC student organizing through the theoretical lens of racial capitalism. Thematic analysis of in-depth interviews, focus groups, and unstructured observations with district administrators, community partners, school staff, and students revealed that the ideological roots and ambitions of MTSS at times conflicted with the perspectives and ambitions of student organizing. MTSS was focused on data collection and monitoring individual student behavior. In contrast student organizing drew from radical political traditions and focused on building mutual aid projects. The use of racial capitalism in this analysis identified fundamental ideas pertaining to schools, such as healthy school climate and student wellbeing, as political territories.

Authors

• Samantha Guz, University of Chicago

• David Wilson Johnson, University of Chicago

• David Orta, The University of Chicago

• Kelsey Berryman, American Institutes for Research