Activism and Resistance in Global Education

• In Event: Foucault in Education: Generative Dialogues on Power, Knowledge, and Resistance Across Theory, Practice, and Method

Abstract

Although some scholars of Foucault argue that his theorization of power is so totalizing as to leave little room for critical politics and activism in the field of education (Scheurich & Mckenzie, 2005) this session explores how Foucault’s approach to problematization is not apathy but rather hyper-activism (Foucault, 1991b). If power and resistance are not antithetical but rather relational and contingent, then explorations of these conditions offer the possibility of doing otherwise. This is an optimism born of the conviction that contingency means nothing is determined, not even our ’selves' and the practices of education that shape us. This demands that intellectual work remains on the continual lookout, looking simultaneously to the past and the future to engage the present.

This presentation explores three different strands of Foucauldian scholarship related to activism and resistance. The first takes up one of the latest education reform policies to sweep U.S. statehouses: the Science of Reading (SOR). Research within this umbrella employs the discursive power of science to promote a narrow view of early literacy practices, valorizing reading print over sociocultural literacies (Perry, 2012) thus erasing diverse ways of knowing and being (Jensen & Edwards, 2023). In the face of the swift adoption of SOR discourse in educational research and popular media alike, the authors draw from Foucault’s concept of the archaeology of knowledge (1972) for critical analysis. Examining historical documents such as policy reports and popular publications, the authors surface how the discourse of crisis and science have undergirded early literacy education in the United States going back as far as the first World War.

The second strand applies a Foucauldian lens to examine anti-ableism activism in higher education, exploring how power relationships shape discourses, institutional governance, and emotional strategies of disabled student activists. The authors draw on Foucault’s theories of governmentality and surveillance to analyze how ableism operates as a mechanism of power, and how disabled students actively resist it. They highlight the emotionality, collectivity, and subjectivities that inform anti-ableist activism, ultimately aiming to foster transatlantic dialogue and critical reflections on resistance and the future of more equitable higher education institutions.

The final strand investigates how “Foucault fever” shapes the critical consciousness of educated young people in China, who often adopt Foucault’s terms uncritically as catchphrases to express social discontent. Highlighting the paradox of students critiquing authority while simultaneously conforming to it, the author explores how education both disciplines and nurtures resistance, and how new forms of “mad literature” emerge as outlets for self-expression.

Authors

• Emily Yerkes, University of Colorado - Boulder

• Laurie Gutmann Kahn, Moravian University

• Lei Zheng, Peking University