Rethinking Integration : Challenging Oppressive Practices and Pointing to Ways Forward

Abstract

What if we understood our social environment as regulating access to a variety of capitals? What if, as an academic community, we critically and routinely interrogated discourses of “society,” “community,” or “culture” in light of how they produce or maintain diff erence? What if we acknowledged the harm “integration” has caused, not as an “accident” but as an ideology doing the work it was designed to do? What if we had a space to grapple with these questions, and what if the ETMU book was providing such a space? With the goal of honoring experiences, activism, art, and scholarly work that stand against “integration,” this book invites the reader to rethink integration. As we grapple with complex questions around discourses and policies of “integration” that shape our professional and personal lives, this book may help to learn and think about these complexities in new ways. This book is written to celebrate ETMU’s 20-year anniversary.