Roundtable: Sally Nuamah's "Closed for Democracy"

Session Submission Type: Author meet critics

Session Description

This roundtable will focus on Sally Nuamah’s new book, "Closed for Democracy: How Mass School Closure Undermines the Citizenship of Black Americans" (Cambridge University Press, 2023)

Every year, over 1000 public schools are permanently closed across the United States affecting approximately 200,000 students. In 2013, Chicago and Philadelphia closed more public schools in a single year than any other school district in U.S. history. Across both cities, over 20,000 students were affected, 90% of which were low-income and either Black or Latinx. The large-scale and targeted nature of these school closures raises serious questions about the equitable distribution of public goods and its impacts on the political beliefs of Americans. Specifically, when public schools close, what message does this send to those affected about their value as citizens? What lessons do those affected learn about the efficacy of political participation? Further, how do decisions to close schools impact the life and death of a democracy?

Closed for Democracy takes these questions on and illustrates how exposure to the threat of mass public school closure contributes to citizens negative attitudes not only toward the policy, but also government and politics, broadly. Blacks and Latinx citizens, in particular, hold these negative political attitudes despite contrasting policy rationales that promote public school closures as beneficial for their academic achievement. In fact, the book highlights how Black and Latinx citizens become the most likely to participate in community meetings, to advocate for an elected school board and to turnout to vote following the announcement of mass school closure in their communities. Nonetheless, the lack of substantive policy response from the government undermines their belief in the power of political participation thus producing Collective Participatory Debt, even when they are successful at keeping some schools open . Ultimately, this book reveals that when schools shut down, so do affected citizens' access to, and belief in, American democracy.

The book is about the high costs and suffering associated with battles to save public schools while poor and Black in America. It is valuable for understanding how many political battles, even those won by the poor and minoritized, can have serious negative impacts on their relationship to Democracy.

This roundtable brings together a diverse group of prominent scholars to discuss the substantive themes and findings of the book and to consider the most promising opportunities for future research.

The following scholars will participate:

Author: Sally A. Nuamah, Assistant Professor, Northwestern University

Discussants:
Jonathan Collins, Assistant Professor, Brown University
Domingo Morel, Associate Professor, NYU
Patricia Posey, Assistant Professor, University of Chicago
Matt Nelsen, Assistant Professor, University of Miami

Sub Unit

• Division 59: Education Politics and Policy

Chair

• Sarah E. Reckhow Michigan State University

Presenters

• Sally Nuamah Northwestern University

• Jonathan Collins Teachers College, Columbia University

• Domingo Morel New York University

• Patricia Posey University of Chicago

• Matthew D. Nelsen University of Miami

• Deondra Rose Duke University