ABSTRACT

This volume examines revolutionary constructs in literacy education and demonstrates how they have been gentrified, whitewashed, and appropriated, losing their revolutionary edge so as to become palatable for the mainstream. Written by top scholars in literacy education, chapters cover key concepts that were originally conceived as radical theories to upset the status quo—including Third Space, Funds of Knowledge, Culturally Relevant Pedagogies, and more. Each chapter addresses how the core theory was culturally appropriated and de-fanged to support rather than take down racial and societal hierarchies.

Critiquing the harmful impact of watering down these theories, the contributors offer ways to restore the edge to these once groundbreaking ideas, reject racist and assimilationist trends, and support the original vision behind these liberatory theories. In so doing, this volume adopts a truly radical, critical stance that is essential for researchers, scholars, and students in literacy education.

chapter 2|23 pages

Third and Hybrid Spaces in Literacy Scholarship and Practice

They are Different and Their Differences Matter

chapter 3|22 pages

What the FOK?

An Illustrative Case of How Whitewashing Occurs in Higher Education

chapter 4|23 pages

Whitewashing as a Scholarly Liability

Racism and Inequity in Family Literacy Scholarship

chapter 5|18 pages

“Stop Whitewashing Our Stories”

Using Counter-Stories to Dismantle Racist and Deficit Perspectives in BIPOC Narratives

chapter 6|18 pages

Freirean Concepts

Diluted and Damaged

chapter 7|16 pages

Put Some Respect on the Theory

Confronting Distortions of Culturally Relevant Pedagogy

chapter |4 pages

Afterword

Restoring the Edge to Edgy Ideas in Literacy Education