Re: Production vs Reproduction

Katherine Goff (Katherine_Goff who-is-at ceo.cudenver.edu)
Mon, 9 Mar 1998 13:05:19 -0700

I recently read both, _The Cultural Production of the Educated
Person_ and _Making and Molding Identity in Schools_ and they both
critique theories of reproduction. The Levinson book is more of a
cross cultural approach, while Davidson focuses on identity within
school. I am working on a reveiw of Davidson's book, _Making and
Molding Identity in Schools_, so I will include a few notes.

Davidson points out that focusing on external forces such as familial
socialization, cultural practices or the perception of historical
circumstances by group members (Davidson, 1996, p. 3) leaves little or
no room for individuals to resist or transform these relatively
static, external forces. Instead of a group identity compatible with
or in opposition to academic acheivement, Davidson describes social
categories created by the relations of power and knowledge which
influence the identities that students reveal in schools.

Grounding her efforts in feminist, postmodern, and poststructural
theory, Davidson argues for a fluid, dynamic model of social
categories. She also draws on the concepts of disciplinary technology
and serious speech acts as practices that teach, or discipline
participants to the meaning of institutional (and social) categories
(Davidson, 1996, p. 4) and contribute to the understanding of
acceptible participation. With a nod to Foucault, Davidson describes
power as practices and discourses that define normality in advance
(Davidson, 1996, p. 5) but that leave room for resistance.

Davidson:
"Presentations of self, ranging from resistance to assimilation, are
linked not only to minority status and perceptions of labor market
opportunities but also to disciplinary technologies, serious speach
acts, and other factors at the institutional level. Because schools
participate in negotiating the meanings students attach to identity,
the ways in which teachers and schools handle power and convey
ethically and racially relevant meanings become relevant to the
conceptualization of students behaviors " (p. 5).

Since I am working on understanding identity within a cultural frame,
this book has been very helpful.

Kathie

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Life's backwards,
Life's backwards,
People, turn around.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^Sinead O'Connor and John Reynolds
Fire on Babylon: Universal Mother^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Katherine_Goff who-is-at ceo.cudenver.edu
http://ouray.cudenver.edu/~kegoff/index.html