Distress in the City: Racism, fundamentalism and a democratic education - Softcover

West, Linden

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1858566886 ISBN 13: 9781858566887

Publisher: Trentham Books, 2016

Synopsis

Every day brings news about so-called Islamic State and its seduction of young people in the West. The radicalization of young Muslims causes alarm; even the desirability of multiculturalism is questioned in troubled cities where racism and Islamophobia are on the rise. This book is a case study of one distressed post-industrial city struggling with various discontents, drawn from those who live there. Their stories illuminate how racism, Islamophobia and Islamism take hold, rendering the city emblematic of wider problems across the world today. Through Linden West's holistic, psychosocial analysis, racism, Islamophobia and fundamentalism are understood by reference to growing inequality, mental illness and hopelessness, all within a context of fractured economies, malfunctioning democracies and the narrowing of education's purpose. But the author also describes the resources of hope in the city the experiments in democratic education and the working class struggle against Nazi fundamentalism, the concern for the other that inspire civic education in schools and communities today.

About this title

Review:

Linden West's important book argues that 'democratic education' - 'informal and lifewide' - offers a unique antidote to the present toxicity of the rise of racism and fundamentalism, asking what the conditions are that allow humans to flourish. This case study, informed by a depth of historical knowledge, weaves personal experience with a wide range of stories of others to create a multi-layered portrait of Stoke-on-Trent, 'the most working class city in England' and a site of growing turmoil. Written in an engaging style, this is at once a scholarly and immensely engaging work, leading the reader to a place of imagining new possibilities, based on civic renewal a glimmer of hope in hard times. --(Molly Andrews, Professor of Political Psychology, University of East London)

What a terrific book! In this timely and urgently needed work, Linden West draws on his rich experience working with narrative to explore how people learn ideologies of representative democracy and white supremacy and the ways in which these interrupt the possibility of loving relationships. Both deeply personal and replete with implications for fostering human communication, this is a must-read for anyone alarmed at the spread of totalitarianism, the extension of racism and the loss of democracy. --(Stephen Brookfield, John Ireland Endowed Chair, University of St. Thomas)

About the Author:

Linden West is Professor of Education at Canterbury Christ Church University. He jointly coordinates a European life history and biographical research network and also works as a psychoanalytic psychotherapist.

About this edition

• Publisher: Trentham Books
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 1858566886
• ISBN 13: 9781858566887
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 210