[Civsoc-mw] FW: A new book, some plans, and some reflections on inclusion

[cammack at mweb.co.za]

New book on education. d

 

From: Brian Levy <blevy9 at jhu.edu> 
Sent: 24 September 2018 00:03Subject: A new book, some plans, and some reflections on inclusion

 

Greetings!​

I am sending this very occasional email to share with you some new research, some news, and some reflections – all variations on the theme of building more inclusive societies. 

 

The news: these past few months have seen the culmination of six years of work at the University of Cape Town, where I have been spending about half of each year (and the other half at Johns Hopkins School of International Studies in DC). In July, we reached a milestone with the relaunch of the development policy and practice graduate school I have been helping to establish as the Nelson Mandela School of Public Governance <http://www.mandelaschool.uct.ac.za/> . And two weeks ago, Oxford University Press published The Politics and Governance of Basic Education: A Tale of two South African Provinces, available here <https://workingwiththegrain.com/2018/09/17/how-politics-and-governance-influence-learning-outcomes/>  for free download.

 

The book is the culmination of a six year effort to apply a working-with-the-grain approach to a specific development challenge. Undertaken jointly with colleagues at the University of Cape Town,  the book explores how politics and institutions influence the functioning of the education sector at multiple levels (national, provincial and school) - with a particular focus on the interplay  between hierarchical and horizontal governance across divergent contexts.  Here is a link to a recent blog post in which I summarize some of the main findings and policy implications (and which includes a link to the book download): 

 <https://workingwiththegrain.com/2018/09/16/the-politics-and-governance-of-basic-education-drilling-into-the-details/> https://workingwiththegrain.com/2018/09/16/the-politics-and-governance-of-basic-education-drilling-into-the-details/

In coming weeks I will post a series of more detailed pieces which explore each of these findings in more depth. 

 

Failures of education comprise one narrow facet of the much broader challenge of inclusion. Evidently we are off-track, as the rise of toxic politics across the world is signalling. South Africa is perhaps the world’s most unequal society; given its dismal history of racial oppression, it is especially vulnerable to the politics of angry populism. Here are three recent pieces of mine on how this plays out and what can be done. 

The first provides an overview of the interactions between inequality and institutions:

https://workingwiththegrain.com/2018/05/31/south-africas-challenge-defusing-the-inequality-institutions-time-bomb/

The second highlights three mutually-reinforcing pillars as central to a credible ‘new deal’ for South Africa:

https://workingwiththegrain.com/2018/05/29/a-thriving-inclusive-south-africa-from-vision-to-action/

The third finds hope from Albert Hirschman’s work as to the possibility of a way forward:

https://workingwiththegrain.com/2018/01/12/south-africa-and-hirschmans-tunnel-effect-possible-signs-of-light/

 

The University of Cape Town has a mandatory retirement age of 65; in the coming eighteen months, I expect to scale back my involvement there, and begin to reflect, research and write more broadly and comparatively on how we can better address the challenge of inclusion (including perhaps some new in-depth research within the USA). I very much hope that along the way, we will now and then have the opportunity to engage with one another. 

Warm regards,

Brian

Twitter handle @brianlevy387 <https://twitter.com/Brianlevy387> 

ps: If you're in DC, I'll be launching the book at SAIS  with a presentation this coming Wednesday on "When inclusive agendas and bureaucratic rigidities collide: some lessons from South Africa". Here's a link which provides some info + an RSVP option: 

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/when-inclusive-agendas-and-bureaucratic-rigidities-collide-tickets-50287893443​

 

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