The Company Owns the Mine but They Don't Own Us: Feminist Critiques of Capitalism in the Coalfields of Kentucky in the 1970s

This article examines women's involvement in the Brookside Mine strike of 1974, which captivated US audiences and provided women with an unprecedented public platform to challenge the class and gender system undergirding coalfield capitalism. During the strike, female kin of miners in Harlan County, Kentucky, started a club to support striking miners and their families and to organise picket lines; they were joined by women from across the region and country. With the strike as their foundation these women generated a women's movement that revealed the specific ways class and gender inequality shaped their lives, defined by the heavy‐duty care work characteristic of the coalfields. This article argues that the Brookside women's support of striking miners was fundamentally about gendered class inequality: the denigration of working‐class, female caregivers alongside the devaluing of men's labour. Using collective memory and individual experience as their interpretive devices, the Brookside women forged a class‐conscious feminism. In it they exposed the traumas of coalfield capitalism, shone a light on women's unpaid care work (one of the foundations of corporate capitalism) and destabilised the gender and class hierarchies that defined coalfield communities.     

The Miners' Lockout in 1926 in the Cumberland Coalfield

Abstract

The General Strike of 1926 was a pivotal point in the history of the British labour movement. However, the miners' lockout that underpinned the dispute has been under-researched. This article seeks to address two themes. Firstly, it provides the first detailed account of the Cumberland coalfield and its role in the 1926 conflict. As such the article contributes to the growing literature on individual districts of the Miners' Federation of Great Britain that has led to a questioning of the dominant characteristics of miners implicit in some of the classic works of coal mining historiography. Through an examination of the social, cultural and political developments in the Cumberland coalfield we get a sense of the complexity, drama and tragedy of industrial strife. Secondly, this study of Cumberland illuminates a number of generic issues that are relevant to the study of coal communities in a more general sense. Through an exploration of the role of colliery deputies in the workplace and community, women's autonomous action in social conflict, and the sociology of outcropping, the article signposts areas of coal mining history that require further research.     

Mapping schools' NAPLAN results: a spatial inequality of school outcomes in Australia

This article identifies spatial dimensions of educational outcomes using maps of the 2016 Grade 5 reading results for Australia's National Assessment Program–Literacy and Numeracy for all Australian schools. A geographical information system (GIS) was used to overlay schools' results onto suburbs' advantage or disadvantage to visualise spatial patterns. We then examined the extent to which school results “cluster” in socio‐economically advantaged and disadvantaged suburbs and considered the consistency of spatial patterns for results across major cities. That work illustrates both how GIS can foreground educational inequality and how “the spatial” is more than corollary for student socio‐economic status. Results show substantial differences between urban and remote areas and towns of different size. Maps of cities visualise spatial “clustering” patterns of school results, with most schools in advantaged suburbs having high results and almost no schools in disadvantaged suburbs having high results. Educational outcomes strongly align to local socio‐demographic characteristics, and parallel host communities’ levels of advantage or disadvantage. Differences between public and private schools are less significant than within‐sector differences for schools in advantaged or disadvantaged locales. Patterns in all cities are consistent—schools in advantaged suburbs predominantly have high results, whereas non‐government schools generally perform better than government schools in disadvantaged suburbs. Most concerning is the persistent and increasing trajectory of results in advantaged, and more so in disadvantaged suburbs, of all cities since the first National Assessment Program–Literacy and Numeracy in 2008. Ameliorating spatial inequality between primary schools is one of the greatest challenges for Australians.     

试论日本华侨学校的法律地位及其所带来的问题

作为日本华侨社会的主要教育设施,华侨学校不仅为华侨子弟的教育做出了贡献,也为整个华侨社会的统合和稳定发展以及中日文化的交流立下了汗马功劳。华侨学校具有持日本国籍的学生增多、学生总体趋向多元化,毕业生去向以升人日本学校为主流,以民族教育和升学教育为两大教学目标及注重培养学生的国际化观念等特点。但由于华侨学校长期处于边缘化的法律地位,故在学生入学、升学及学校财政等方面都受到了极大的限制。这也直接影响到了华侨学校教育活动的实施。     

Balancing spirituality and secularism,globalism and nationalism: the geographies of identity,integration and citizenship in schools

Geographies of education have drawn more research attention in the last decade. The varied motivations for geographical attention to education have led to divergent approaches. First, a macro, political economy or “outward looking” approach has examined educational provision and what it tells us about wider social, economic and political processes. Second, a micro, social-cultural or “inward looking” approach has emphasised social difference within school spaces, and the links between home and educational spaces. This latter approach has also acknowledged the importance of the voices of children and young people in understanding educational experiences. In this paper, l take stock of existing research in the geographies of education and then make a case for the examination of two types of schools that have received little or no geographical attention thus far, namely international schools and faith-based schools. I propose a multi-scalar framework for analysing the former and a relational framework for understanding the latter.     

Education for what? Shaping the field of climate change education with children and young people as co-researchers

ABSTRACT

Children and young people are often positioned as the next generation of leaders in whom the public imagines or expects to overcome the legacies of climate and environmental inaction. Increasingly analyses of progress in environmental education independently identify the need for researchers and teachers to ‘listen to children’s voices’. In this paper we argue that climate change education presents a significant platform not only for youth voices, but also for a genuine activation of children’s political agency in schools, universities, and the public domain. In so doing, we draw upon the government funded project Climate Change?+?Me, which has involved working with 135 children and young people from across Northern NSW, Australia as co-researchers investigating young people’s voices in climate change. We conclude that climate change education can open up an entirely new field of educational experience and inquiry when it is inclusive of and led by young people.     

Constructing a Culture of Solidarity: London and the British Coalfields in the Long 1970s

This article explores relationships of solidarity constructed between London and the British coalfields from 1968 until the 1984–1985 miners’ strike. Foregrounding the development of a culture of solidarity over this period resituates the support movement during the 1984–1985 strike as embedded in longer‐term relationships, which suggests a more equal relationship between coalfield and metropolitan activists than is given by focusing narrowly on the year itself. I argue that a spatially and temporally dynamic sense of the development of these relationships allows us to better grasp the potentially mutual nature of solidarity. Thinking about the construction of this culture of solidarity can contribute significantly to understanding the nature of labour agency. I emphasise the generative nature of solidarity, particularly the ways in which the spatial and social boundaries of the labour movement were challenged through solidarity relationships, allowing in some instances a more diverse conception of working‐class politics.     

从留根教育到综合素质教育:西班牙华文教育发展的新趋向

论文梳理了西班牙华裔子弟华文教育的发展历程,借助实地调研、问卷与访谈等手段对当地华文教育现状进行了考察与分析,并在此基础上,探索了西班牙华人社会发展新形势下的华文教育新趋向。研究显示,西班牙的华文教育具有起步晚、发展迅速的特点,并存在教育资源分配不均的突出问题。近年来,西班牙华人社会的高速发展及社会需求的转变,促使当地华文教育由传统的以教授华语为主要目标的留根教育逐渐向旨在帮助华人二代移民适应当地社会、提高群体竞争力的综合素质教育转型。华文教育的变革折射出西班牙华人社会的发展变迁,为二代移民建立跨文化视角下的双向族群认同创造了条件。     

Policy Cues and Ideology in Attitudes toward Charter Schools

Charter schools have generated support from politicians in both major American political parties while stimulating intense debate among interest groups. We investigate whether and how public attitudes reflect interest group polarization or politician consensus. Using an original survey, we find that charter school opinions diverge along ideological lines among high‐information respondents. With embedded experiments, we manipulate respondents' information using policy cues tied to opposing sides of the charter debate: We assess whether the role of private companies and nonunion teachers changes support for charter schools. We find that the public responds favorably to some informational cues; conservatives without prior information are especially persuaded by information about nonunion teachers. This explains how polarized opinion can develop even in the absence of strong partisan sorting among top political leaders and clarifies the partisan and ideological context of ongoing education policy debates.     

The Problem in Policy: Representations of Asia Literacy in Australian Education for the Asian Century

This paper examines the strategic arguments articulated in calls for the teaching and learning of Asia in schools. “Asia literacy” is currently framed as a necessary “solution” for Australian education, but acceptance of this “solution” into the mainstream educational policy agenda has been problematised as a neoliberal and neocolonial construct. Subsequent policy debate indicates the dominance of an economic rationale that is seemingly impossible to resist. This paper suggests that critical policy approaches can be used to identify alternatives to these dominant frameworks, which imagine Asia literacy in alternate ways. Re-imagining the “solution” offers three alternatives: working within an economic agenda; restructuring Asia literacy away from a distinct policy agenda; and treating policy gaps as spaces in which teachers can generate locally relevant possibilities.     

“Un-Irish and un-Catholic”: sports,physical education and girls’ schooling

ABSTRACT

This article charts the development of physical education and sports in girls’ schools in Ireland during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It notes how early developments were undoubtedly influenced by traditions and practices in English public schools, with games such as hockey and cricket becoming popular in Irish girls’ schools. The “Swedish” gymnastics movement, which became popular the 1870s, led to the introduction of callisthenics and drill in many Irish schools. By the turn of the twentieth century, drill and dance displays had become a highlight in the convent school calendar of events. Official policy following the introduction of the Revised Programme for National Schools (1900) placed unprecedented emphasis on the importance of physical education. While many embraced these developments, others were critical of girls’ involvement in competitive games and sports, particularly those considered “foreign” and “un-Irish”. Drawing on convent school archives, official sources, and newspaper articles, this article provides new insights into the evolution of physical education and sports in Irish girls’ schools.     

Theorizing the Submerged State: The Politics of Private Schools in the United States

In this paper, I apply Mettler's concept of the “submerged state” to aid for children at private schools in the United States, including education vouchers, in‐kind aid, and property tax exemptions. All aid policies are “submerged” in that they help private organizations take on state functions but some are more submerged than others. Theoretically, this paper distinguishes between subcategories of submergence. Using policy data from 50 states and an original database of court challenges between 1912 and 2015, I employ probit regression with sample selection to evaluate the effect of submergence on successful court challenge. I find that more submerged policies are less likely to be successfully challenged than less submerged policies. Submerged policy design enables supporters to avoid legal as well as political challenge.     

建国初期私立学校改造措施的考察——以北京地区为例

1949～1956年,我国对私立学校进行了全面改造,使私立学校在20世纪50年代中期一度退出历史舞台。从北京地区对私立学校的改造来看,当时国家改造私立学校有着深刻的社会原因和复杂的国内、国际背景,但党和政府对私立学校的改造是随着客观形势的变化而按部就班地推进的,对于不同类型和不同级别的私立学校采取不同的方法和措施,这种改造是"因地制宜"进行的,从中可以看出中共处理问题的灵活性。     

Family education support to rural migrant children in China: evidence from Shenzhen

Rural migrant children have become a fast-growing population in China as a consequence of the large-scale population flow from rural to urban areas. Besides the dual-structure hukou system, which restrains rural migrants from upward mobility, family capital also plays an important role in providing family educational support to rural migrant children. Using the data from P District and N District of Shenzhen in 2013, this paper explores the present status of three dimensions of family capital and five aspects of family educational support to Chinese rural migrant children, as well as the correlation between family capital and family educational support from perspectives of migration status (hukou), life course (children’s age), and school type. Constrained by inadequate family capital in multiple dimensions manifested by less education, lower income, and limited social networks, etc., parents of rural migrant children provide less family educational support in nearly every aspect compared with parents of urban local children. Among rural migrant children, those in private migrant schools receive the least support from their parents.     

Rushing for Gold: Mobility and Small‐Scale Mining in East Africa

African rural dwellers have faced depressed economic prospects for several decades. Now, in a number of mineral‐rich countries, multiple discoveries of gold and precious stones have attracted large numbers of prospective small‐scale miners. While their ‘rush’ to, and activities within, mining sites are increasingly being noted, there is little analysis of miners' mobility patterns and material outcomes. In this article, on the basis of a sample survey and interviews at two gold‐mining sites in Tanzania, we probe when and why miners leave one site in favour of another. Our findings indicate that movement is often ‘rushed’ but rarely rash. Whereas movement to the first site may be an adventure, movement to subsequent sites is calculated with knowledge of the many risks entailed. Miners spend considerable time at each site before migrating onwards. Those with the highest site mobility tend to be more affluent than the others, suggesting that movement can be rewarding for those willing to ‘try their luck’ with the hard work and social networking demands of mining another site.     

Opium smoking,anti‐Chinese attitudes,and the American medical community, 1850–1890

During the 1870s and early 1880s, members of the American medical community sought to exclude the Chinese from immigrating to the United States because these physicians believed that the Chinese opium smoking habit threatened the moral system of the country. Doctors were especially concerned about the supposed effects of opium smoking on sexual behavior, arguing that it both heightened male and female desire and endangered the nation's reproductive capacity. They also feared that opium smoking and Chinese prostitution would encourage miscegenation, and that use of the drug could ultimately harm America's socio‐economic progress. The conclusions of these physicians fed into the anti‐Chinese campaign that resulted in the passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882.     

The Chevert: A History

The Chevert was built for Napoleon III's navy between 1850 and 1863. It served as a transport to supply French colonies in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its service was primarily in peacetime, never entering into battle. It entered the private merchant service in the early 1870s and in 1875 served William Macleay's scientific expedition to New Guinea, which became known as the Chevert Expedition. It subsequently re-entered the merchant service before being wrecked in a cyclone in 1880. Not yet lost to history, it served as an office and impromptu fortress in Vanuatu: firstly for the English and then for the French. Its final resting place was Port Sandwich, Malekula, Vanuatu. For a relatively small transport ship it attracted many more headlines than its weight might predict.     

For our common cause: Sexuality and left politics in South Wales, 1967–1985

Following the passage of the 1967 Sexual Offences Act, which partially legalised homosexuality in England and Wales, the campaign for equal rights gained organisational strength across the country, with branches of the Gay Liberation Front and the Campaign for Homosexual Equality being formed in major cities and university towns. This coincided with a decade of radicalism, particularly in the coalfields, where education programmes and a renewed belief in the validity of class action provided the organisational and ideological basis for left campaigns. These two movements coalesced in the 1984–1985 miners’ strike, when an alliance was struck between the mining communities of South Wales and the London-based Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners support group. This alliance would prove the most remarkable of all the support groups set-up during the 1984–1985 miners’ strike, and a turning point in the integration of equal rights for gay and lesbian people into the campaigns of the labour movement.     

"Constrained by Zeal": Women in Mid-NineteenthCentury Nonconformist Churches

In the nineteenth century, women discovered that nonconformist churches provided a third, intermediate sphere between private and public life in which they could find a variety of roles. Churches provided a supportive environment where, as "Angels out of the House" they found an extension of their role in the home. In some cases, however, they clearly moved beyond that to the public sphere. Women taught in Sunday schools, visited the poor and sick, distributed tracts, were instrumental in fundraising, led Methodist class meetings, prayed with other women, and some even preached. Despite the importance of women within Nonconformity, and the significance of religion in many women's lives, few historians of either Nonconformity or women's history have concentrated on women's lives within these churches. This paper seeks to add to our limited knowledge of their activities within the "intermediate sphere" in four denominations.