‘We haven’t done enough for White working-class children’: issues of distributive justice and ethnic identity politics

Abstract

This article explores the politically contentious issue of White working-class student under-achievement within one particular school – a large and culturally diverse comprehensive secondary school in the greater London area. The article examines the equity philosophies and identity politics articulated by staff in their understanding of and approach to this under-achievement. It challenges the distributive logic and group identity politics that simplify, dislocate and distort equity issues. The article provides an illustration and theorising of remedies that offer potential in raising the educational performance of White working-class students – remedies not based on ethnic identity but rather on destabilizing the patterns of economic distribution and social disengagement that compromise these students’ schooling attainment.

Keywords:

• White working-class underachievement
• distributive justice
• identity politics