Perspectives on Empowering Education

Collectively, the works in this book speak strongly and eloquently to the intersections of two oft-used but often misunderstood constructs: education and empowerment. The perspectives presented here construe education broadly and variously to encompass the educative potentiality of individuals, families, communities, and institutions; paralleling that approach, the authors’ engagement with empowerment highlights and illustrates the multivalence of that construct as it is represented in varied extant literatures and academic disciplines. The editors recognize and honor such richness and nuance, and have done a masterful job of bringing together a diverse set of scholarly voices with a shared set of commitments to unpack and reflect on what is for many of us the central purpose of any kind of educational endeavor. There is much work to be done if we are to harness the potential of education for empowerment; this book elucidates the nature and scope of that work, and moves forward a dialogue about the roles that we all must play.