A fresh and bold argument for revamping our standards of “merit†and a clear blueprint for creating collaborative education models that strengthen our democracy rather than privileging individual elitesStanding on the foundations of America’s promise of equal opportunity; our universities purport to serve as engines of social mobility and practitioners of democracy. But as acclaimed scholar and pioneering civil rights advocate Lani Guinier argues; the merit systems that dictate the admissions practices of these institutions are functioning to select and privilege elite individuals rather than create learning communities geared to advance democratic societies. Having studied and taught at schools such as Harvard University; Yale Law School; and the University of Pennsylvania Law School; Guinier has spent years examining the experiences of ethnic minorities and of women at the nation’s top institutions of higher education; and here she lays bare the practices that impede the stated missions of these schools. Goaded on by a contemporary culture that establishes value through ranking and sorting; universities assess applicants using the vocabulary of private; highly individualized merit. As a result of private merit standards and ever-increasing tuitions; our colleges and universities increasingly are failing in their mission to provide educational opportunity and to prepare students for productive and engaged citizenship. To reclaim higher education as a cornerstone of democracy; Guinier argues that institutions of higher learning must focus on admitting and educating a class of students who will be critical thinkers; active citizens; and publicly spirited leaders. Guinier presents a plan for considering “democratic merit;†a system that measures the success of higher education not by the personal qualities of the students who enter but by the work and service performed by the graduates who leave. Guinier goes on to offer vivid examples of communities that have developed effective learning strategies based not on an individual’s “merit†but on the collaborative strength of a group; learning and working together; supporting members; and evolving into powerful collectives. Examples are taken from across the country and include a wide range of approaches; each innovative and effective. Guinier argues for reformation; not only of the very premises of admissions practices but of the shape of higher education itself.From the Hardcover edition.
#459621 in Books 2013-09-03 2013-09-03Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.01 x 1.29 x 5.96l; 1.45 #File Name: 0807033170448 pages
Review
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful. The other side of history not covered in most textbooksBy Night-GauntIt shows the inside out and ugly side of just how we came about. The use of slaver; where it became racialized (black; brown; red only eventually) how it was used. The philosophy of terror formulated by the likes of Sir Francis Bacon; to decapitate the hydra. What they called the multifarious groups against their enterprise of Capitalism (fledgling); empire; slavery and terror used to destroy the commons; separate and destroy those pockets and undercurrent of rebellion against all those notions promulgated by the powers including the Christian church and its concepts of dominion and slavery as being god given.How Hercules; who slain the hydra was picked as an example of their hero; the one that cut off the heads of the hydra and burned the necks to stop regeneration. How they were metaphorical symbols of their work to remake the wild lands of the Americans and at the same time drain their lands of the people and ideas they found so disagreeable.An excellent addition to any personal library on history and human rights and the foundations of imperial thinking still alive and well in places like the USA. Are you part of the Hydra or with Hercules?6 of 7 people found the following review helpful. A bottom-up theory of resistanceBy Malvin"The Many Headed Hydra" by Peter Linebaugh and Marcus Rediker is an exceptionally well-written and enlightening history of early capitalism. The authors offer a bottom-up theory of resistance and describe the conditions by which the modern nation state was founded as a solution to the problem of proletariat self-rule. Short narratives; biographies and illustrations of key events and individuals are framed within a discussion of the historical forces of the era; making the book an interesting; thought provoking and entertaining read.Linebaugh and Rediker describe the brutal process of primitive accumulation where the poor were forced off the land to create the proletariat class. The newly-dispossessed were disciplined harshly and made to labor for the benefit of the investor class. However; the pervasive "culture of fear" that was "indispensible to the creation of labor-power as a commodity" eventually led to revolt; first with the English Civil War in the 1640s and later throughout the colonial system.The authors spotlight individuals who made the case for the rights of all people; including Edward Despard; James Naylor; Tom Paine; Thomas Spence and Robert Wedderburn. These voices articulated the desires of the masses to achieve equality and social justice. As these rights were consistently denied; the seeds of discontent and rebellion were planted. When not organizing resistance against empire; many chose piracy; formed their own renegade communities; or chose to live among the Native Americans.In this light; the authors present the American Revolution as a cooptation of the democratic movement. Capitalist property and wage relations were legislated in a manner that secured elitist privilege. Race; sex and class effectively served to split the proletariat into factions that could be politically controlled. The nation state thus was born as an instrument to empower the bourgeoisie and channel the energies of the masses towards capitalist accumulation.The unique value of this book is its convincing argument that the world we know may have turned out very differently. This tantalizing possibility is just one reason why "The Many-Headed Hydra" is an intriguing read. I highly recommend it to all.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Myth BusterBy RichardVery well researched; this is the history they dare not teach in schools; or re-enact on the history channel.
