The Politics of Race, Class and Special Education: The selected works of Sally Tomlinson(World Library of Educationalists)

In the World Library of Educationalists series, international experts themselves compile career-long collections of what they judge to be their finest pieces – extracts from books, key articles, salient research findings, major theoretical and practical contributions – so the world can read them in a single manageable volume. Readers will be able to follow the themes and strands and see how their work contributes to the development of the field. Professor Sally Tomlinson brings together 12 of her key writings in one place, including chapters from her best-selling books and articles from leading journals. In this landmark publication she reviews and recounts the history and development of her research and writing over 30 years that is concerned with the politics of education systems, especially special education, and the place of social classes and ethnic and racial minorities in the systems. Social class, race and gender have historically always been essential markers in deciding who would receive a minimum or inferior education and thus fail to obtain whatever were currently acceptable qualifications. Definitions of the ‘less able’ or ineducable were based on beliefs in the biological and cultural inferiority of lower social classes, racial and immigrant groups. Professor Tomlinson’s aim in her work has always been to introduce sociological, historical and political perspectives into an area dominated by psychological, administrative and technical views and to explain how the individual ‘problems’ were connected to wider social structures and policies. This unique collection illustrates the development of Professor Tomlinson’s thinking over the course of her long and esteemed career.

Table of Contents:
1. Introduction: A Sociological perspective 2. Class Analysis and Colonial Immigrants 3. A Sociology of Special Education. 4. The expansion of special Education 5 Conflicts and Dilemmas for Professionals in special education. 6 The Irresistible rise of the SEN industry 7 The Radical-Structuralist view of special education 8 Race and special education 9 The British national identity 10 Educational reforms-ideologies and visions 11 Home-School links 12 Education in a Post-welfare society 13 Low Attainers in a global knowledge economy 14 Disability in Somaliland

About the Author :
Sally Tomlinson is Emeritus Professor at Goldsmiths College, University of London, and Honorary Research Fellow in the Department of Education, University of Oxford. Information about her and a complete list of her published work can be found at www.stomlinson.net.

Review :
'It is Tomlinson's directness and unequivocal pursuit of a better understanding about the complexities of disability, race, and social class that has defined her long and productive career. This book, representing a lifetime of invigorating work, is testimony to her status as one of the most influential scholars on which the discipline of Disability Studies in Education rests.' - David J. Connor, Hunter College, City University of New York, Disability Studies Quarterly, 2014. "This book is an excellent read and has much to teach researchers in both the sociology of education and those in inclusive or special education. The former will learn that there is a whole other universe out there; a shadow industry that mops up the mess created by their own. The latter will learn how to think more critically and more broadly about that shadow industry; helping them to realise that the object of their inquiry is an artefact of 'deliberate decisions by people who have the power to make the decisions.'" - Linda J. Graham, Queensland University of Technology, International Journal on School Disaffection "A a comprehensive anthology that reveals the intersections among education, social class, race, and politics ... this book can function as a practical resource book for scholars and practitioners seeking to gain an international perspective on how economics, race, and politics contribute to the expansion of special education and the worldwide marginalization of ethnic minority students." —Teachers College Record