Book Review: Making Schools American: Nationalism and the Origin of Modern Educational Politics

Ewert not only depicts the origins and aims of the public school system as a tool for national unity in the United States, but he also successfully foregrounds how the inherent struggle for a definition of America and Americanness in a country marked by racial and ideological tensions shaped the educational system and continues to do so. As such, Ewert’s book is a useful source when reading and researching about the history of the American school system as well as the nature of the forces at work in the national and local societies that shaped it. Continue reading

100 Years of Writing against Complicity : A Woman’s Place is in the Resistance

How can writing escape complicity? As the 21st century version of nationalist authoritarian politics has internalised the postmodern recognition that language constructs reality, and warped it for its own purposes in Donald Trump’s ‘tweet-politics,’ a literature-focused backlash is developing. Katharina Donn discusses modernist and contemporary practices of hybrid women’s writing, and explores their politics of form. Continue reading