Across the world, there is a growing presence of right and ultra-right forces that are impacting and influencing educational policy and practice. However, the multiplicity of forms of the "new rights", as well as the diversity of contexts in which they operate, can obscure their underlying political aims and tangible effects. To better understand these dynamics, a network of researchers from across the Americas conducted a two-year research project mapping the forms of the “new rights” and their impacts on education. Based on case studies from 8 countries, this paper will first highlight the ways in which the “new rights” in the Americas are highly coordinated and strategic, working to undermine education as a social right and public good. The paper will then illustrate how the “new rights” are driving privatization and commodification in education. This includes the intensification of existing mechanisms of privatization, as well as new pathways to privatization such as the weaponization of private values in public spaces. The paper argues that these interventions directly impact teachers and students, including limiting pedagogical autonomy and academic freedom, narrowing the scope of curricular content, and normalizing physical and symbolic violence in public spaces. Finally, the paper foregrounds processes of resistance to the “new rights” that are being proposed by community coalitions, teachers’ unions, and regional networks. Through courageous curriculum, pedagogy and activism, these actors are calling out oppression and advancing educational alternatives based in social justice and the common good.

Authors:
Andree Gacoin, British Columbia Teachers' Federation, Canada

About the Presenter(s)
Andrée Gacoin is Director of the Division of Information, Research and International Solidarity at the British Columbia Teachers’ Federation.

Connect on Linkedin
https://www.linkedin.com/in/andreegacoin/?originalSubdomain=ca

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