Geographies of Difference: The Social Production of the East Side, West Side, and Central City School

Geographies of Difference powerfully documents the multitude of socio-educational processes that construct differentiated students, educators, and educational practices within cities. Through a case study of a large metropolitan school district, this book identifies how the conversations and practices of educators, citywide media, and political relations codify students, schools, and city spaces with spatial metaphors that obscure as well as denote meanings about race and social class. It argues that through these practices of codification, educational processes of constructing and differentiating populations and spaces work in concert with broader city media and political discourses to create differentiated curricular and pedagogical offerings for students in different parts of the city. Geographies of Difference also posits that these overlapping school and citywide practices result in propelling and naturalizing re-segregated schools and cities. Geographies of Difference is written for students and scholars working in urban education, multicultural education, media studies, and social foundation.

The Authors: Edward Buendía, a former K-12 teacher, is Associate Professor in the Department of Education, Culture, and Society at the University of Utah. He received his Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction. He has developed a line of inquiry that includes the formation of school knowledge and practice as they pertain to diverse students and educational contexts, as well as the social production of alternative epistemological frameworks.
Nancy Ares is Assistant Professor in Teaching and Curriculum at the University of Rochester’s Warner Graduate School of Education and Human Development. She received her Ph.D. in educational psychology. She has established a line of inquiry that draws on sociocultural, sociohistorical, and social spatial theories to inform explorations of race, power, and cultural practices in and across varied cultural contexts, including districts, schools, and classrooms.