Licensing whiteness: property, privilege, and (re)centering the politics of race within neoliberalism

Abstract

Critical race theory ought to be central to analyses of neoliberalism and its impact on contemporary educational landscapes in the United States. Neoliberalism finds grounding in the rule of law, particularly as it relates to the role of contracts, contractual relationships, and by extension forms of licensure. Parallel to this, critical race theory also finds conceptual grounding in law, most notably as it pertains to understandings of linkages between property rights and whiteness. We explore the implications of considering whiteness as an institutionally-sponsored, state-sanctioned form of licensed property. The identification of neoliberalism as a dominant form of institutionalized whiteness centers understandings of the racialized contractual terms operating discursively under the auspices of white supremacist neoliberal regimes. Though Brown v. Board of Education (1954) overturned the “separate but equal” principle in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), we argue that neoliberalism continues to operationalize the maintenance of racial inequity in US schooling.

Keywords:

• Critical race theory
• neoliberalism
• politics of education
• whiteness

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No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Christopher B. Crowley

Christopher B. Crowley is an Assistant Professor of Teacher Education at Wayne State University. His work explores knowledge production and the politics of teacher education in curriculum studies. His research appears in journals such as Teaching and Teacher Education, Review of Research in Education, Educational Studies, China Quarterly, and others.

Shameka N. Powell

Shameka N. Powell is an Associate Professor of Educational Studies in the Department of Education at Tufts University. Their research focuses on equality of educational opportunity and the intersections of race, class, gender, and sexuality in schools.

Aja D. Reynolds

Aja D. Reynolds is an Assistant Professor of Urban Education at Wayne State University. Her scholarly work has focused on her collaborative work in creating ‘fugitive’ or freedom spaces with Black girls through the use of art, activism and healing as she explores the geographies of Black girlhood.

Min Yu

Min Yu is an Associate Professor of Comparative and International Education in the College of Education at Wayne State University. Her research explores the relationships between home, school, and community regarding students’ and teachers’ experiences that are positioned in relation to different forms of power and ways of knowing.