Lessons in Legitimacy

Sean Carleton

ISBN 10: 0774868082 / ISBN 13: 9780774868082

Published by University of British Columbia Press, CA, 2023

About this Item

Between 1849 and 1930, government-assisted schooling in what is now British Columbia supported the development of a capitalist settler society. Lessons in Legitimacy examines state schooling for Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples - public schools, Indian Day Schools, and Indian Residential Schools - in one analytical frame. Schooling for Indigenous and non-Indigenous children and youth functioned in distinct yet complementary ways, teaching students lessons in legitimacy that normalized settler capitalism and the making of British Columbia. Church and state officials administered different school systems that trained Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples to take up and accept unequal roles in the emerging social order.Combining insights from history, Indigenous studies, historical materialism, and political economy, this important study reveals how an understanding of the historical uses of schooling can inform contemporary discussions about the role of education in reconciliation and improving Indigenous-settler relations.

Seller Inventory # LU-9780774868082

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Lessons in Legitimacy
• Publisher: University of British Columbia Press, CA
• Publication Date: 2023
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0774868082
• ISBN 13: 9780774868082
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: New
• Weight: 520 grams

About this title

Synopsis

An examination of how early state schooling in British Columbia taught students the legitimacy of settler capitalism.

Between 1849 and 1930, government-assisted schooling in British Columbia supported the development of a capitalist settler society. These institutions administered different systems that trained Indigenous and non-Indigenous children in their unequal roles in the emerging social order. Lessons in Legitimacy examines education for Indigenous and non-Indigenous students—through public schools, Indian Day Schools, and Indian Residential Schools—and how educational institutions normalized settler capitalism and its making of British Columbia.

Combining insights from history, Indigenous studies, historical materialism, and political economy, Lessons in Legitimacy reveals how a historical understanding of schooling’s uses can inform contemporary discussions about the role of education in reconciliation and improving Indigenous-settler relations.

About the Author

Sean Carleton is assistant professor of history and Indigenous studies at the University of Manitoba.