Lessons in Empowerment

• In Event: CRT, Racism, and Diversity: Challenges and Opportunities in Education Governance

Abstract

Civic education courses are associated with the development of democratic capacity. However, measures of this concept in social science studies use a limited battery of systems-justifying metrics (e.g., trust in government) that do not adequately reflect the political experiences of racially marginalized youth. I highlight the shortcomings of existing research on democratic capacity and suggest a new path forward drawing on mixed-methodological approach. First, drawing from focus groups with high schoolers in Chicago, I argue that democratic capacity should comprise a much broader set of attitudes and behaviors, including political empowerment and acts of public voice. An approach to civic education that emphasizes this more capacious form of democratic capacity is particularly meaningful for racially marginalized youth who have legitimate reasons to distrust government. Next, I utilize in-depth interviews with teachers to highlight one pedagogical technique associated with the development of empowerment: historically grounded conversations about politics that validate students’ distrust of government. Finally, I assess the relationship between historically grounded conversations and (re-conceptualized) democratic capacity using a national-representative survey of young adults. I find that such conversations about politics are associated with feelings of political empowerment and that empowerment is associated with multiple forms of political participation, particularly among Black and Latinx young adults. In short, expanding our conceptualization of democratic capacity enables us to reimagine civic education that is empowering for racially marginalized youth.

Author

• Matthew D. Nelsen, University of Miami