Latin America SIG Highlighted Session: Neoliberalism, Citizenship, and Race

Session Submission Type: Special Session

Description of Session

With a South American focus, this highlighted session addresses the construction of civic and racial identities in Latin America within the context of neoliberal multiculturalist trends in the region. The presenters will address the cases of Colombia, Ecuador, and Brazil. The session will begin with comparative theoretical discussion of debates "unfolding at the intersection of democracy, education, and multiculturalism" (Ramos, 2014). This discussion will be illustrated by a conversation on citizenship education in Ecuador and in Colombia. The session will close with an interrogation of racial inequality in Brazil. Grounded in the conference theme, this session opens up a space to deconstruct current political understandings of diversity in the region, their influence on education policy, curriculum and pedagogy, and their impact on students' construction of civic and racial identities.

Sub Unit

• SIG: Latin America

Chair

• Ana Solano-Campos, University of Massachusetts-Boston

Individual Presentations

• Rethinking recognition in the age of neoliberal multiculturalism - Francisco Ramos, University of Pennsylvania

• Citizenship Formation and Teacher Support: The Colombian Case - Maria Paulina Arango, Florida State University

• Ecuador and its new democratic citizenship education curriculum: What’s happening in classrooms? - Daniela Bramwell, University of Toronto

• Racial inequalities in educational opportunities in Brazil - Paula Louzano, Universidade de Sao Paulo

Discussant

• Regina Cortina, Teachers College, Columbia University