Abstract of

“What's My Name?”: A Politics of Literacy in the Latter Half of the 20th Century in America

Patrick Shannon

Marginalized groups' struggles for recognition have driven much of the world's politics during the last 50 years. With the importance of schooling and literacy education as public spaces in the United States, marginalized groups in America have attempted to translate their social agendas for recognition to classroom contexts. These attempts sought and seek to change policies, structures, and practices of literacy teaching and learning, striking at the traditional values, texts, and rationales for schooling. Because these efforts intended to redistribute access to and benefits from literacy education, they form a central part of the politics of literacy during this time. This article explores reactions to these struggles among advocates of five distinct political ideologies with specific attention directed toward how these reactions offer us different futures in and outside American schools.

Abstract from Shannon, P. (2000). “What's My Name?”: A Politics of Literacy in the Latter Half of the 20th Century in America. Reading Research Quarterly, 35(1), 90–107. doi: 10.1598/RRQ.35.1.7