The Legacy of Colonial Education: Caste, Ideological State Apparatuses, and Considerations for the Future

• In Event: Friday Roundtable Session 11:25 am
  In Roundtable Session: Racial Capitalism, Coloniality, and the State’s Colonial/Imperial Educational Projects (Table 2)

Abstract

Throughout both the United States and Europe, calls to decolonize education and promote more liberatory forms of schooling have emerged. In considering these, it is essential to reflect on how education functioned during the colonial era. Within the Southern and Southwestern United States, this was largely shaped by Spanish colonialism. Through this paper, I will examine how education functioned for different castes, utilizing a Marxist lens to highlight how each of these forms of education functioned to maintain the colonial ideology. I will close with a reflection of how this historical reflection might guide our visions of education for the future, particularly for communities of color, in considering ways to disrupt oppressive structures.

Author

• Raquel Sáenz Ortiz, Southwestern University