Critical Theories

Critical THeories

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Marx

Black Radical Thought

The Frankfurt School

Critical Legal Studies

Post- Structuralism

Critical Pedagogy

Critical Pedagogy

Critical Race Theory

DisCrit

LatCrit

Abolionist Education

Critical Studies in Ed

Feminist Thought

Indigenous Theory

Decoloni-zation

Queer Theory

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Queer Theory refers to a large and diverse set of thought that addresses the ways that both gender and sexuality are socially constructed, performed, and implicated in other power relations. The name stems from the reappropriation of the term queer beginning in the 1990s. Queer theory questions the stability of identities related to both sexuality and gender, often examining the evolution of these identities over time. Some queer theorists go beyond this to argue that the categories themselves are problematic and push for a more fluid conception of gender and sexual identity.

Queer Theory

Resources: Butler, J. (2006). Gender trouble: Feminism and the subversion of identity. Routledge. DePalma, R. (2013). Choosing to lose our gender expertise: Queering sex/gender in school settings. Sex Education, 13(1), 1–15. http://doi.org/10.1080/14681811.2011.634145 Kumashiro, K. (2002). Troubling education: "Queer" activism and anti-oppressive pedagogy. Routledge. https://doi-org.proxy1.library.jhu.edu/10.4324/9780203819753

Post-structuralism refers to a series of theories that critiqued elements of structuralism, questioning master narratives and seeing those interpretive structures as constituted by power relations rather than reflecting truth. This concern with the relationship between power, narratives, and ideology connects post-structuralism to critical theory.

Post-Structuralism

Resources: Derrida, J. (1967). Writing and difference. University of Chicago Press. --Chapter: “Structure, Sign, and Play in the Discourse of the Human Sciences”Foucault, M. (1976). The archaeology of knowledge. Harper & Row. Williams, J. (2005). Understanding poststructuralism. Routledge.

Critical Legal Studies (CLS) was developed by legal scholars in the 1970s. Influenced by American legal realism (which had argued that legal decisions were not always come to by the process of applying formal logic, but were instead influenced by judge’s ideas about fairness), CLS scholars argued that the law was fundamentally connected to social issues, and that law and legal institutions often functioned to maintain the status quo, partly through institutionalizing biases against marginalized people. In many ways, this laid the groundwork for Critical Race Theory.

Critical Legal Studies

Resources: The Bridge. (n.d.). Critical legal studies movement. https://cyber.harvard.edu/bridge/CriticalTheory/critical2.htm Hunt, A. (1986). The theory of critical legal studies. Oxford Journal of Legal Studies, 6(1), 1–45. https://doi.org/10.1093/ojls/6.1.1 Kennedy, D., & Klare, K. E. (1984). A bibliography of critical legal studies. Yale Law Journal, 94(2), 461–490. Unger, R. M. (2015). The critical legal studies movement: Another time, a greater task. Verso.

There is not one Indigenous theory or thought system. Rather, there are various Indigenous epistemologies that have shaped and influenced the evolution and operationalization of critical theory, from its very beginnings. Across those various Indigenous epistemologies, though, knowledge is a practice based in relationality, holism, and spiritual development. Among Indigenous epistemologies, relationality refers to an interdependence among peoples, the environment, and the metaphysical. Holism connects with the idea of learning through emotion, spirit, mind, and body, and spiritual development relates to understanding the interrelation between the sacred and secular. Throughout history, many forms of Indigenous knowledge around the world have been coopted, appropriated, displaced, or even erased through colonialism. Indigenous forms of inquiry are inherently based on an ethic of care, participation, and knowledge democracy, stating that research must be contextualized according to local knowledge systems and cultures; studies should be focused on Indigenous experience, conducted by Indigenous peoples.

Indigenous Theory

Resources: Caxaj, C. S. (2015). Indigenous storytelling and participatory action research: Allies toward decolonization? Reflections from the peoples’ international health tribunal. Global Qualitative Nursing Research, 2015(2),1–12. http://doi:10.1177/2333393615580764 Chilisa, B. (2020). Indigenous research methodologies (2nd ed.). SAGE Publications. Cook-Lynn, E. (1997). Who stole Native American studies? Wicazo Sa Review, 12(1), 9–28. https://doi.org/10.2307/1409161 Smith, L. T. (1999). Decolonizing methodologies: Research and indigenous peoples. Zed Books. Smith, L. T., Tuck, E., & Yang, K. W. (Eds.). (2018). Indigenous and decolonizing studies in education: Mapping the long view. Routledge.

Critical Race Theory (CRT) is a diverse theoretical tradition, with origins in legal studies (Bell, 2004). It was adapted to the field of education by Ladson-Billings & Tate in their foundational 1995 article. In the article, they articulate several central tenets of CRT in education, including the endemism of racism in the United States and the idea of whiteness as property. Other central ideas of CRT, including a critique of liberal incrementalism, interest convergence, and counter-storytelling, have emerged in the rich scholarly conversations about and applications of the theory (Gillborn, 2015; Delgado et al., 2015; Solórzano & Yosso, 2001). In recent years, the term ‘CRT’ has become widely misused—often divorced from its academic and theoretical literature—in political and legislative contexts. In this new popular adaptation of the term, CRT has come to mean any race-conscious practice or policy.

Critical Race Theory

Resources: Bell, D. (2004). Silent covenants: Brown v. Board of Education and the unfulfilled hopes for racial reform. Oxford University Press. Delgado, R., & Stefancic, J. (2012). Critical race theory: An introduction (2nd ed.). Temple University Press. Gillborn, D. (2015). Intersectionality, critical race theory, and the primacy of racism: Race, class, gender, and disability in education. Qualitative Inquiry, 21(3), 277–287. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077800414557827 Ladson-Billings, G., & Tate, W. F. (1995). Toward a critical race theory of education. Teachers College Record, 97(1), 47–68. https://doi.org/10.1177/016146819509700104 Solórzano, D. G., & Yosso, T. J. (2002). Critical race methodology: Counter-storytelling as an analytical framework for education research. Qualitative Inquiry, 8(1), 23–44. https://doi.org/10.1177/107780040200800103

Critical studies is a bit of a catch-all term for approaches to education that provide a general critique of the current state of educational systems.

Critical Studies in Education

Resources: Popkewitz, T. S., & Fendler, L. (Eds.). (1999). Critical theories in education: Changing terrains of knowledge and politics. Routledge.

Abolitionist teaching is concerned with the humanization of all children. Building on the movement to abolish the police, abolitionist educators conceive of the current educational system as characterized by oppressive structures, including carceral and capitalist logics and cis-hetero-patriarchy. It calls for the creation of homeplaces safe for children of color and poor children where they can do more than survive.

Abolitionist Education

Resources: • Abolitionist Teaching Network. (n.d.). https://abolitionistteachingnetwork.org • Gilmore, R. W. (2022). Abolitionist geography: Essays towards liberation. Verso. • Kaba, M. (2021). We do this ‘til we free us: Abolitionist organizing and transforming social justice. Haymarket Books. • Love, B. L. (2019). We want to do more than survive: Abolitionist teaching and the pursuit of educational freedom. Beacon Press.

While there is no single version of feminism, there is a long history of theory and activism concerned with the role of women in society, critiques of patriarchy, and the liberation of women. The concern with liberation and the critiques of patriarchal ideologies connect feminism with other critical theories. Feminism, at least in the U.S., is often understood as having had several waves. First-wave feminism was primarily concerned with recognizing women as full humans (rather than property) and with rights, such as the right to vote. In the 1960s, second-wave feminism broadened concerns to include women’s social roles and advocated for re-evaluating these roles and ending gender discrimination. Third-wave feminism in the 1990s sought to take account of intersectionality and focus on the experiences of non-White women, and it also embraced both other sexualities and more traditionally feminine styles. While some argue that current feminism is still in the third wave, others see the emergence of the Me Too movement as marking a fourth wave of feminism.

Feminist Thought

Resources:Crenshaw, K. (2016, October). The urgency of intersectionality [Video]. TED Conferences. https://www.ted.com/talks/kimberle_crenshaw_the_urgency_of_intersectionality Friedan, B. (2010). The feminine mystique. Penguin Classics. Gender Sexuality Resource Center. (n.d.). History of feminism. https://www.gsrc.princeton.edu/history-of-feminism hooks, b. (1999). Talking back: Thinking feminist, thinking black. South End Press. Lorde, A. (1980). Your silence will not protect you. Silver Press. Chapter: “Age, Race, Class and Sex: Women Redefining Difference (pp. 94–106) Spivak, G. C. (1981). French feminism in an international frame. Yale French Studies, 1981(62), 154–184. https://doi.org/10.2307/2929898

Decolonial theory identifies and rejects the physical, economic, cultural, epistemic, and other types of violence of colonialism (see the works of Frantz Fanon, Anibal Quijano, and Linda Tuhiwai Smith). In education, decolonial theory challenges colonial legacies in part by critiquing Eurocentric knowledge structures and advocating for the resurgence of marginalized epistemologies. By interrogating colonial hierarchies embedded in the daily routines of education and educational research (i.e., curriculum, pedagogy, and research methodologies), decolonial theory empowers community members to envision and enact transformative educational practices that dismantle oppressive structures.

Decolonization

Resources: Smith, L. T. (2021). Decolonizing methodologies: Research and indigenous peoples. Bloomsbury Publishing. Tuck, E., & Yang, K. W. (2014). R-words: Refusing research. In D. Paris & M. T. Winn (Eds.), Humanizing research: Decolonizing qualitative inquiry with youth and communities (pp. 223–248). Sage. Tuck, E., & Yang, K.W. (2012). Decolonization is not a metaphor. Decolonization: Indigeneity, Education & Society, 1(1), 1–40.

LatCrit, or Latino Critical Legal Studies, emerged from a series of debates with the legal field concerning the relationship of critical race theory, which some saw as focusing exclusively on a Black/White binary. These debates culminated in a 1995 colloquium in Puerto Rico on Latina/o Communities and Critical Race Theory. LatCrit builds on critical legal studies and critical race theory but with a specific focus on the ways that apply to Latina/o experiences.

LatCrit

Resources: Chávez-Moreno, L. C. (2023). Examining race in LatCrit: A systematic review of Latinx critical race theory in education. Review of Educational Research, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543231192685 Gonzaléz, M. T., Matambanadzo, S. M., & Velez Martinez, S. I. (2021). Latina and Latino critical legal theory: LatCrit theory, praxis and community. 12 Rev. Direito e Práx., Rio de Janeiro 1316. University of Pittsburgh School of Law. https://scholarship.law.pitt.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1510&context=fac_articles LatCrit. (2002). LatCrit primer: Volume 1. LatCrit: Latina & Latino Critical Legal Theory, Inc. https://latcrit.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/lcprimeri.pdf LatCrit.org. (n.d.). About LatCrit. https://latcrit.org/about-latcrit/

Critical pedagogy spans theory and practice. As a theory, critical pedagogy is concerned with how education can contribute to critical consciousness and mutual humanization. Critical pedagogy is also concerned with the relationship between the oppressed and the oppressor, arguing that only through becoming aware of the true nature of power relations and breaking down this dichotomy can either attain their full humanity.

Critical Pedagogy

Resources: Freire, P. (2005). Teachers as cultural workers: Letters to those who dare teach. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429496974 Giroux, H. A. (2007). Utopian thinking in dangerous times: Critical pedagogy and the project of educated hope. In M. Cote, R. J. F. Day, & G. de Peuter (Eds.), Utopian pedagogy: Radical experiments against neoliberal globalization (pp. 25–42). University of Toronto Press. hooks, b. (1994). Teaching to transgress: Education as the practice of freedom. Routledge. McLaren, P. (2003). Life in schools: An introduction to critical pedagogy in the foundation of education. Allyn & Bacon.

DisCrit, short for Critical Disability Theory (or sometimes Critical Disability Race Theory), examines the social construction of disability. It is often concerned with the ways that notions of disability operate in opposition to ideas of normalcy, serving to define the normal and exclude others. DisCrit theorists have also engaged with notions of discourse and of intersectionality, arguing that racism and ableism operate together, reinforcing one another even for those whose identities do not span both categories. DisCrit tends to locate disability in the way that society chooses to respond to impairments rather than in the individual.

DisCrit

Resources: Baglieri, S., Bejoian, L. M., Broderick, A. A., Connor, D. J., & Valle, J. (2011). [Re]claiming “inclusive education” toward cohesion in educational reform: Disability studies unravels the myth of the normal child. Teachers College Record, 113(10), 2122–2154. https://doi.org/10.1177/016146811111301001 Garland-Thomson, R. (2011). Misfits: A feminist materialist disability concept. Hypatia: A Journal of Feminist Philosophy, 26(3), 591–609. https://doi/org/10.1111/j.1527-2001.2011.01206.x Hall, M. (2019). Critical disability theory. In Stanford encyclopedia of philosophy. Retrieved April 7, 2024, from https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/disability-critical/ Sanyal, P. (2021, June 17). What is DisCrit? Understanding disability critical race studies. MEA WorldWide. https://meaww.com/what-is-dis-crit-understanding-disability-critical-race-studies-539970