Streams and Tracks of Racial Capitalism and the Illusion of Educational Equity

• In Event: Saturday Roundtable Session 1
  In Paper Session: Revolution or Reproduction? Reimagining Education

Abstract

In this paper, we use a comparative political analysis methodology and a Black radical theory lens to look at (c)overt racialization and social ordering in two policy cases– one in Ontario Canada and another from California in the United States. This paper examines how educational policies sustain racial capitalism, imperialism, and coloniality while presenting themselves as mechanisms of social justice. Drawing on Cedric Robinson’s concept of racial capitalism (1983) and William Watkins’ (2001, 2015) critique of racial capitalism in education, we analyze how policies and curricula manage surplus populations, reinforce systemic inequities, and function as ideological tools that obscure stratification under the guise of reform. Situated within the ongoing “culture wars” shaping education in Western nations, this paper argues for recognizing the inherently political nature of educational work and practice, urging policymakers, educators, and researchers to adopt transformative, justice-centered approaches that dismantle systems of exclusion and stratification.

Authors

• Gabrielle Monique Warren, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto

• Kyle Chong, Michigan State University