Undergoing Political Experience. A Book Review of \u3cem\u3eEducational Politics for Social Justice\u3c/em\u3e

The persistent reports and video evidence of the brutality against people of color, the swell of protest and community organizing in response, and also the noxious swell of white supremacy in the current political climate all amount to a desperate reminder that we must not only continually interrogate our public institutions but thoughtfully pursue the many fronts necessary to dismantle the structural forms of oppression that most U.S. institutions have been built upon. Catherine Marshall, Cynthia Gerstl-Pepin, and Mark Johnson provide an analysis of the political arenas making up the public education system—what they explain as the micro, district, state, federal, and global realms. In Educational Politics for Social Justice, the authors argue that an understanding of these arenas can help guide the efforts of those who care about education such that they might better “center justice” in their effort to work toward greater equity in the public schools. This review explores some of the merits and applicability of their ideas and provides a few suggestions about where else we might look for hope and guidance amid the chaos of this current political experience