Education as Social Action Knowledge, Identity and Power Edited by Ashok Swain Education as Social Action This page intentionally left blank Education as Social Action Knowledge, Identity and Power Edited by Ashok Swain Department of Peace and Conflict Research, Uppsala University, Sweden © UNRISD 2005 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2005 978-1-4039-4914-1 All rights reserved.No reproduction,copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced,copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright,Designs and Patents Act 1988,or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency,90 Tottenham Court Road,London W1T 4LP. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The authors have asserted their rights to be identified as the authors of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published in 2005 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN Houndmills,Basingstoke,Hampshire RG21 6XS and 175 Fifth Avenue,New York,N.Y.10010 Companies and representatives throughout the world. PALGRAVE MACMILLAN is the global academic imprint of the Palgrave Macmillan division of St.Martin’s Press,LLC and of Palgrave Macmillan Ltd. Macmillan® is a registered trademark in the United States,United Kingdom and other countries.Palgrave is a registered trademark in the European Union and other countries. ISBN 978-1-349-52544-7 ISBN 978-0-230-50560-5 (eBook) DOI 10.1057/9780230505605 This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Education as social action :knowledge,identity,and power / edited by Ashok Swain. p.cm. Includes bibliographical references (p.) and index. 1.Popular education – Cross-cultural studies.2.Educational equalization – Cross-cultural studies.3.Basic education – Cross-cultural studies.I.Swain,Ashok. LC196.E37 2005 370.11(cid:2)5—dc22 2004063614 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 06 05 Contents Foreword viii Acknowledgements x Contributors xii Acronyms xiii 1 Introduction: Knowledge, Identity and Power – Education Movements in the Global South 1 Education: Source of knowledge; manufacturer of identity 1 Global initiative on education 4 Working together with civil society 8 Social movements for education: Origin and organization 10 Organization of the book 14 2 Food for Starved Minds: The Mobilization of African-Americans for Education 20 Why mobilize for education? 21 African-American communities mobilizing for education: A recurring phenomenon 25 Contemporary mobilizations for education in African-American communities 41 Conclusion 49 Epilogue 51 3 Education Movements, Power and Identity in Bosnia and Herzegovina 52 Communal identity and education in Bosnia and Herzegovina 53 Private education in Bosnia and Herzegovina 61 Conclusion 73 4 Universal Elementary Education in India: An Exploratory Study of Movements in Civil Society 75 Analysing social movements in India 76 State failure in providing UEE: A background 80 Changing social attitudes and movements/initiatives in civil society for UEE 87 v vi Contents National Alliance for Fundamental Elementary Education (NAFRE) 90 NGOs in partnership with the state 93 Alternative private initiatives 97 Conclusion 101 5 Muslim Madrasasin Contemporary South Asia 105 The origins of the madrasain Muslim society 106 Madrasaeducation in South Asia 107 Madrasasin present-day South Asia 111 Islamic education in South Asia today 114 Student life at traditional madrasas 120 Management of the madrasa 121 Government-assistedmadrasas 123 Changes in the madrasasystem 124 Madrasasfor girls: A new development 127 Conclusion 129 6 Education among Indigenous Peoples from Colombia and Peru: Social Movement or Public Policy? 132 Educational policies and indigenous peoples 134 The state of basic education in Colombia and Peru 136 The indigenous peoples of Peru and Colombia 137 Land reform in Peru and Colombia 140 Peasant and indigenous mobilization 143 Indigenous mobilization in Colombia since the 1960s 144 The indigenous movement in Peru since the 1960s 148 Education policies for indigenous peoples in Colombia 151 Educational policy for indigenous peoples in Peru 152 Conclusion 154 Appendix: Indigenous organizations 155 7 Education as an Agenda of Social Action in Malaysia: The Search for Unity in a Plural Society 159 Pre-independence plural educational system 161 Educational Policy Adjustment in the Days Leading to Independence 165 Education as social action: Creating national unity 167 The New Economic Policy (NEP) 169 Continuing the search for national unity: The vision school and the English language debate 171 Conclusion 175 Contents vii 8 Social Movements and the “Education Revolution” in Postapartheid South Africa 178 Education, power and identity 179 How “South” is South Africa? 180 Future imperfect: Social movements and Bantu education policy 182 Soweto, politicization and people’s education 186 The landscape of social movements in the postapartheid moment 188 Past present: The consequences of apartheid-era education 191 Postapartheid reforms 193 Back to the future? A provisional assessment 197 Future imperfect: Social movements new and old 198 Conclusion 203 9 Conclusion: Social Action for Education, the State and the Global Network 205 Significance of the state 209 Global network 211 Formulating the policy well 213 Notes 215 References 227 Index 242 Foreword According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), at the end of the last millennium more than 110 million children had no access to primary education, 880 million adults were illiterate and gender discrimination continued to permeate education systems. It is against the background of these appalling statis- tics that virtually all the major international conferences of the 1990s affirmed their commitment to basic education. The World Education Forum, held in Dakar, Senegal, on 26–28 April 2000, stated: “Education is a fundamental human right. It is the key to sustainable development and peace and stability within and among countries, and thus an indis- pensable means for effective participation in the societies and economies of the twenty-first century, which are affected by rapid globalization. Achieving EFA (Education for All) goals should be postponed no longer. The basic learning needs of all can and must be met as a matter of urgency” (UNESCO 2000). Although international aid and commitments play an important role in education in some developing countries, the ultimate responsibility for education rests with the national governments and their citizens. In many cases, governments have been persuaded that education is of intrinsic human value because it empowers citizens to exercise their human rights; it is an instrument for development because it provides the “human capital”, and it is a vital instrument in nation building because it socializes the population into the new social arrangement. Progress on virtually all nationally and internationally agreed targets for poverty reduction and reduction of inequality are premised on progress toward education for all. However, agreement on these aspects of the case for education does not mean that adequate attention will be paid to its provision. The wide disparities in provision of education even among countries with similar levels of per capita income suggest that more is involved than just lack of resources. Education, both in its form and content, touches at the core of the political economy of individual countries because it impinges in a fundamental way on resource allocation and determines the depth and amplitude of citizenship. Its form and content shape the socialization of citizens, the reworking of their iden- tities or the acquisition of new ones. Its capacity to empower citizens can also mean greater capacity to challenge both social authority and viii Foreword ix the premises of their inclusion in the state’s nation-building project. It is precisely because education has such far-reaching effects, that its pro- vision is a source of contestation among different social groups. Not surprisingly, a wide spectrum of social movements has coalesced around struggles for access to education and in shaping its content. In many cases, governments have provided education in response to pressure from various social actors in society. At the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD), research on civil society and social movements has been based on the understanding that social movements constitute the dynamic element to civil society’s involvement in the struggle for access by different social groups to social services and economic and natural resources. This book focuses specifically on the role of civil society and social movements in access to education. It contains studies conducted in carefully selected countries worldwide. Significantly, these studies interrogate a number of conceptual presuppositions about social move- ments with respect to their social base, their ideological motivations, and their capacities for social mobilization. The studies also show that while social initiatives in the educational domain have often originated when states have failed to provide facilities and opportunities for their citizens to receive basic education and/or when a certain section of soci- ety feared losing its identity due to nation-building projects of the state through educational curriculum machination, the success and failure of social movements for education depends on both the capacities and character of the state and the roles of a variety of social forces. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Ashok Swain for accept- ing the challenge of preparing the initial project document, identifying the researchers, coordinating the research network and, finally, editing this volume. Thanks are also due to Krishna Ghimire who has been responsible for in-house liasing with the network. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the governments of Denmark, Finland, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom for core support to UNRISD. Thandika Mkandawire Director, UNRISD February 2004