The Promise of Multiculturalism: Education and Autonomy in the 21st Century

Edited by George Katsiaficas and Teodros Kiros

Overview:
As the corporate model has been increasingly assimilated into institutions of higher learning, the new multicultural curriculum has been challenged. Many full-time teaching positions have been eliminated, and early retirements have emptied the academy of an intellectual infrastructure vital to the formulation of critical thinking. In addition, critics of "political correctness" have attacked the reworking of core curricula in colleges and universities, leaving the sponsors of multiculturalism fragmented and yearning to be heard. The Promise of Multiculturalism embraces these challenges and is a timely contribution to the existing literature on education and culture.

The rich collection demonstrates multiculturalism's potential to transform human society and teach it to respect-rather than reject or merely tolerate-difference. It offers diverse approaches to multiculturalism as it applies to contemporary themes of autonomy, identity and education. Drawing on philosophy, literature, sociology, history and political science, the contributors weave together personal narratives, pedagogical interpretations and global perspectives to offer a vision of the twenty-first century.