Radical Possibilities

The core argument of Jean Anyon’s Radical Possibilities is deceptively simple - without directing our attention to the influence of federal and metropolitan policies have on the poverty that plagues schools and communities in American cities, urban school reform as currently conceived will always be doomed to fail. Since the book’s 2005 publication many of the alarming trends and statistics presented in the first edition have not just been confirmed by the intervening years, but have worsened to an unprecedented level.

In this thoroughly revised and updated edition, Anyon dedicates a full new chapter to "The Great Recession", its root causes, and its trickle-down effect on education policy. Expanding on her paradigm for understanding and combating educational injustice, Anyon also includes new material focused on race, and looks at the compounding consequences that historical federal, metro, and local political economic policies have had on the crises faced by black and Latino students in particular today. With new examples from the Occupy Wall Street movements and more, Anyon expands upon her analysis of new research in civil rights history and social movement theory.

Going beyond lament alone, Radical Possibilities offers those interested in building new social movements a set of practical and theoretical insights into securing economic and educational justice for the many millions of America's poor families. Anyon reminds readers that, historically, equitable public policies can be--and have been--created as a result of the political pressure brought to bear by social movements, and gives home the idea that current moment can still be a transformative one.