Legitimising inequality? The governance of 'Others' through participatory initiatives in schools*. Issue 1 (2nd January 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Paniagua-Rodríguez, Alejandro; Bereményi, Bálint Ábel
• Is Part Of: Compare. Volume 49:Issue 1(2019)
• Page Start: 115
• Page End: 131
• Publication Date: 2019-01-02
• Subjects: Parent participation in schools -- immigration -- Roma/Gypsy -- governmentality -- Third Sector Organisations; Comparative education -- Periodicals; 370.9
• DOI: 10.1080/03057925.2017.1389259
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0305-7925

Abstract

Abstract: This article discusses how the call for families' active participation in school can be understood as a form of regulatory act producing neoliberal subjectivities based on responsibility, entrepreneurship and rational calculation. The analysis draws on the results of two projects aiming to improve the relationship between families of Spanish Roma and immigrant background and the school. Results suggest that the idea of participation is presented as an element for the transformation of the schools. Nevertheless, the programmes are implemented without questioning the power structure present in school, and so put even more responsibility on the families, and make more visible their supposed deficits. Approaching participation as a key feature of neoliberal governmentality, our analysis highlights how these participatory initiatives foster a type of assimilationist diversity approach and legitimise the existing status quo in schools.