Description
How are histories of racial oppression dealt with in contexts of diversity? Chana Teeger tackles this question by examining how young South Africans, born into democracy, confront their country's racist apartheid past in high school history lessons. Drawing on extensive observational, interview, and textual data, Distancing the Past vividly chronicles how students learn that racism is a thing of the past, even as they experience it in their everyday lives.
Teeger shows how teachers' desire to avoid conflict between students mirrors a national focus on racial reconciliation, leading to the historical distancing of the recent apartheid past. This historical distancing allows schools to present a facade of transformation. Beneath the surface, however, the lessons reproduce unequal power relations at school and legitimize inequality at the societal level. In documenting these processes, Distancing the Past illuminates the subtle reconfiguration of racism in the era of civil liberties. It shows how acknowledging the racist past is not enough. When the past is remembered-but its legacies ignored-racism can continue unabated in the present.
Distancing the Past is a timely account of the remaking of race and inequality in the aftermath of de jure discrimination. It offers vital lessons for other societies grappling with their own racist histories.
About the Author
Chana Teeger is an associate professor in the Department of Methodology at the London School of Economics and Political Science and a senior research associate in the Department of Sociology at the University of Johannesburg.
Reviews
Distancing the Past unravels the subtle yet potent roles of schooling in sustaining social inequality. With persuasive clarity, Dr. Teeger exposes critical ways that educators shape students' perceptions by diluting their awareness of apartheid's enduring legacy. This book is a thought-provoking examination of educational socialization that sculpts social divisions for the next generation. -- Prudence L. Carter, author of Stubborn Roots: Race, Culture, and Inequality in U.S. and South African Schools
Chana Teeger deftly shows that the past can be embraced or held at a distance, and there are complex reasons for both approaches. This book is a tour de force of ethnography and memory studies! -- Jeffrey K. Olick, author of The Politics of Regret: On Collective Memory and Historical Responsibility
Elegantly composed, concisely written, lively, and provocative, Chana Teeger's theoretically ambitious Distancing the Past examines education, collective memory, racial repression, and their intersection in post-apartheid South Africa. Based on impressive empirical research in two schools, the book provides crucial lessons on "color-blind" teaching for many contexts, including the United States. -- Joachim J. Savelsberg, author of Knowing about Genocide: Armenian Suffering and Epistemic Struggles
Revealing how students are taught a color-blind perspective on race in history class just one generation after the end of apartheid, Teeger shows how any recognition of systemic racism is buried as historical artifact and viewed as "grudges" against white South Africans, despite evidence in students' own lives to the contrary. A must-read for anyone interested in the production of race frames in schools. Highly recommended! -- Natasha Warikoo, author of Race at the Top: Asian Americans and Whites in Pursuit of the American Dream in Suburban Schools
In this brilliant ethnography Chana Teeger analyzes how young South Africans learn about apartheid and the history of the struggle to overthrow it in their high school classrooms. Expertly researched, beautifully written, and filled with deep insights into the nature of race relations and the teaching of history, this book should be widely read everywhere difficult histories need to be reckoned with. -- Mary C. Waters, coauthor of Inheriting the City: The Children of Immigrants Come of Age
Book Information
ISBN 9780231213417
Author Chana Teeger
Format Paperback
Page Count 216
Imprint Columbia University Press
Publisher Columbia University Press
Teeger shows how teachers' desire to avoid conflict between students mirrors a national focus on racial reconciliation, leading to the historical distancing of the recent apartheid past. This historical distancing allows schools to present a facade of transformation. Beneath the surface, however, the lessons reproduce unequal power relations at school and legitimize inequality at the societal level. In documenting these processes, Distancing the Past illuminates the subtle reconfiguration of racism in the era of civil liberties. It shows how acknowledging the racist past is not enough. When the past is remembered-but its legacies ignored-racism can continue unabated in the present.
Distancing the Past is a timely account of the remaking of race and inequality in the aftermath of de jure discrimination. It offers vital lessons for other societies grappling with their own racist histories.
About the Author
Chana Teeger is an associate professor in the Department of Methodology at the London School of Economics and Political Science and a senior research associate in the Department of Sociology at the University of Johannesburg.
Reviews
Distancing the Past unravels the subtle yet potent roles of schooling in sustaining social inequality. With persuasive clarity, Dr. Teeger exposes critical ways that educators shape students' perceptions by diluting their awareness of apartheid's enduring legacy. This book is a thought-provoking examination of educational socialization that sculpts social divisions for the next generation. -- Prudence L. Carter, author of Stubborn Roots: Race, Culture, and Inequality in U.S. and South African Schools
Chana Teeger deftly shows that the past can be embraced or held at a distance, and there are complex reasons for both approaches. This book is a tour de force of ethnography and memory studies! -- Jeffrey K. Olick, author of The Politics of Regret: On Collective Memory and Historical Responsibility
Elegantly composed, concisely written, lively, and provocative, Chana Teeger's theoretically ambitious Distancing the Past examines education, collective memory, racial repression, and their intersection in post-apartheid South Africa. Based on impressive empirical research in two schools, the book provides crucial lessons on "color-blind" teaching for many contexts, including the United States. -- Joachim J. Savelsberg, author of Knowing about Genocide: Armenian Suffering and Epistemic Struggles
Revealing how students are taught a color-blind perspective on race in history class just one generation after the end of apartheid, Teeger shows how any recognition of systemic racism is buried as historical artifact and viewed as "grudges" against white South Africans, despite evidence in students' own lives to the contrary. A must-read for anyone interested in the production of race frames in schools. Highly recommended! -- Natasha Warikoo, author of Race at the Top: Asian Americans and Whites in Pursuit of the American Dream in Suburban Schools
In this brilliant ethnography Chana Teeger analyzes how young South Africans learn about apartheid and the history of the struggle to overthrow it in their high school classrooms. Expertly researched, beautifully written, and filled with deep insights into the nature of race relations and the teaching of history, this book should be widely read everywhere difficult histories need to be reckoned with. -- Mary C. Waters, coauthor of Inheriting the City: The Children of Immigrants Come of Age
Book Information
ISBN 9780231213417
Author Chana Teeger
Format Paperback
Page Count 216
Imprint Columbia University Press
Publisher Columbia University Press
