Pedagogy of a Beloved Commons : Pursuing Democracy’s Promise Through Place-Based Activism
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| Title: | Pedagogy of a Beloved Commons : Pursuing Democracy’s Promise Through Place-Based Activism |
|---|---|
| Description: | WINNER, 2026 EDRA's GREAT PLACES AWARDSA rare and powerful illustration of what it takes to become a sustainable, community-embedded organization that continually grows the next generation of compassionate leaders.This essential, timely book meets us at our current moment of crisis to offer hope that American democracy's stalled trajectory toward its founding creed to embrace all, and not just some, can indeed be re-invigorated. Pedagogy of a Beloved Commons is about low-income youth of color working within justice-oriented, community-based organizations to improve the social and spatial conditions in their surroundings. It draws from hundreds of pages of data, some collected over a decade ago by graduate research assistants at three universities and some collected recently by a graduate research assistant at a fourth university, to present verbatim quotes from interviews with constituents of three youth-serving organizations. The book posits that the disinvested neighborhoods where youth experience abandonment and marginality in fact can serve as a call to action, given appropriate organizational support.Pedagogy of a Beloved Commons envisions a place-based critical pedagogy that can provide young people with the practical skills and deep values to engage with today's economic, racial, and ecological crises. It offers a welcome antidote to a neoliberal education system that has not only veered away from its public mandate to advance democratic citizenship but that has also reinforced today's insidious economic inequality, rendering illusive the idea that rich and poor can work together toward a common good. Between these pages resonates a passionate call for an approach to cultivating citizens who have the critical skills to challenge injustice, the courage to hold the rich and powerful accountable, and the empathy to advance not just their own self-interest but also the health and well-being of their communities and the planet. The author proposes that such citizens develop by exercising collective agency in “the commons,” a political and psychic space whose values are mapped out in physical space. Through the expert use of an architect's lens, this groundbreaking book argues that the three-dimensional concreteness of the nation's disinvested neighborhoods provides a virtual stage where disenfranchised youth can experiment with collective life, become more discerning about the forces that have shaped their communities, and practice working toward just and inclusive futures.Merging Paolo Freire's seminal theory of critical pedagogy with Grace Lee Boggs's belief that hands-on community-building can disrupt the ever more destructive forces of neoliberal capitalism, Pedagogy of a Beloved Commons refines an aspirational framework for a pathway forward through a careful analysis of three exemplar organizations. It offers rich, unique portraits of young people transforming their communities in southwest Detroit, Wai'anae, and Harlem, respectively illustrating place-based activism through theater, organic farming, and critical inquiry. Here activism is framed as the hands-on engagement of youth in addressing inequities in the commons of their neighborhoods through small but persistent interventions that also help them learn the language of solidarity and collectivity that a sustainable democracy needs. Pedagogy of a Beloved Commons is a must-read for our times and for our future. |
| Authors: | Sharon Egretta Sutton |
| Resource Type: | eBook. |
| Subjects: | Poor youth--Political activity, Poor youth--Social conditions, Minority youth--Social conditions, Minority youth--Political activity |
| Categories: | SOCIAL SCIENCE / Sociology / Urban, POLITICAL SCIENCE / Political Ideologies / Democracy, EDUCATION / Teaching / Methods & Strategies |
| Database: | eBook Collection (EBSCOhost) |
| FullText | Links: – Type: ebook-pdf – Type: ebook-epub Text: Availability: 0 |
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| Items | – Name: Title Label: Title Group: Ti Data: Pedagogy of a Beloved Commons : Pursuing Democracy’s Promise Through Place-Based Activism – Name: Abstract Label: Description Group: Ab Data: WINNER, 2026 EDRA's GREAT PLACES AWARDSA rare and powerful illustration of what it takes to become a sustainable, community-embedded organization that continually grows the next generation of compassionate leaders.This essential, timely book meets us at our current moment of crisis to offer hope that American democracy's stalled trajectory toward its founding creed to embrace all, and not just some, can indeed be re-invigorated. Pedagogy of a Beloved Commons is about low-income youth of color working within justice-oriented, community-based organizations to improve the social and spatial conditions in their surroundings. It draws from hundreds of pages of data, some collected over a decade ago by graduate research assistants at three universities and some collected recently by a graduate research assistant at a fourth university, to present verbatim quotes from interviews with constituents of three youth-serving organizations. The book posits that the disinvested neighborhoods where youth experience abandonment and marginality in fact can serve as a call to action, given appropriate organizational support.Pedagogy of a Beloved Commons envisions a place-based critical pedagogy that can provide young people with the practical skills and deep values to engage with today's economic, racial, and ecological crises. It offers a welcome antidote to a neoliberal education system that has not only veered away from its public mandate to advance democratic citizenship but that has also reinforced today's insidious economic inequality, rendering illusive the idea that rich and poor can work together toward a common good. Between these pages resonates a passionate call for an approach to cultivating citizens who have the critical skills to challenge injustice, the courage to hold the rich and powerful accountable, and the empathy to advance not just their own self-interest but also the health and well-being of their communities and the planet. The author proposes that such citizens develop by exercising collective agency in “the commons,” a political and psychic space whose values are mapped out in physical space. Through the expert use of an architect's lens, this groundbreaking book argues that the three-dimensional concreteness of the nation's disinvested neighborhoods provides a virtual stage where disenfranchised youth can experiment with collective life, become more discerning about the forces that have shaped their communities, and practice working toward just and inclusive futures.Merging Paolo Freire's seminal theory of critical pedagogy with Grace Lee Boggs's belief that hands-on community-building can disrupt the ever more destructive forces of neoliberal capitalism, Pedagogy of a Beloved Commons refines an aspirational framework for a pathway forward through a careful analysis of three exemplar organizations. It offers rich, unique portraits of young people transforming their communities in southwest Detroit, Wai'anae, and Harlem, respectively illustrat­ing place-based activism through theater, organic farming, and critical inquiry. Here activism is framed as the hands-on engagement of youth in addressing inequities in the commons of their neighborhoods through small but persistent interventions that also help them learn the language of solidarity and collectivity that a sustainable democracy needs. Pedagogy of a Beloved Commons is a must-read for our times and for our future. – Name: Author Label: Authors Group: Au Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Sharon+Egretta+Sutton%22">Sharon Egretta Sutton</searchLink> – Name: TypePub Label: Resource Type Group: TypPub Data: eBook. – Name: Subject Label: Subjects Group: Su Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Poor+youth--Political+activity%22">Poor youth--Political activity</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Poor+youth--Social+conditions%22">Poor youth--Social conditions</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Minority+youth--Social+conditions%22">Minority youth--Social conditions</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Minority+youth--Political+activity%22">Minority youth--Political activity</searchLink> – Name: SubjectBISAC Label: Categories Group: Su Data: <searchLink fieldCode="ZK" term="%22SOCIAL+SCIENCE+%2F+Sociology+%2F+Urban%22">SOCIAL SCIENCE / Sociology / Urban</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="ZK" term="%22POLITICAL+SCIENCE+%2F+Political+Ideologies+%2F+Democracy%22">POLITICAL SCIENCE / Political Ideologies / Democracy</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="ZK" term="%22EDUCATION+%2F+Teaching+%2F+Methods+%26+Strategies%22">EDUCATION / Teaching / Methods & Strategies</searchLink> |
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| RecordInfo | BibRecord: BibEntity: Classifications: – Code: 305.235089 Scheme: ddc Type: prePub Languages: – Code: eng Text: English Subjects: – SubjectFull: Poor youth--Political activity Type: general – SubjectFull: Poor youth--Social conditions Type: general – SubjectFull: Minority youth--Social conditions Type: general – SubjectFull: Minority youth--Political activity Type: general Titles: – TitleFull: Pedagogy of a Beloved Commons : Pursuing Democracy’s Promise Through Place-Based Activism Type: main BibRelationships: HasContributorRelationships: – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Sharon Egretta Sutton – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Sharon Egretta Sutton IsPartOfRelationships: – BibEntity: Dates: – D: 01 M: 01 Type: published Y: 2023 – D: 13 M: 04 Type: profile Y: 2024 Identifiers: – Type: isbn-print Value: 9781531502812 – Type: isbn-print Value: 9781531502829 – Type: isbn-electronic Value: 9781531502836 – Type: isbn-electronic Value: 9781531502843 Titles: – TitleFull: Pedagogy of a Beloved Commons : Pursuing Democracy’s Promise Through Place-Based Activism Type: main |
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