Abdi, A. A., & Misiaszek, G. W. (Eds.). (2022). The Palgrave Handbook on Critical Theories of Education. Palgrave Macmillan. 611 pages: illustrations (some color). ISBN 978-3-030-86342-5

The opening lines of the foreword, articulated by Peters centres a timely message which is upheld in the curated chapters contained in this handbook. It aims to decolonize effects of contemporary hegemonic Western-centric systems of education, to critique cultural and cognitive imperialism of neoliberal technocratic regimes of performativity while at the same time fostering critical pedagogy as a means of achieving a world of social justice, sustainability, and community well-being (p. v). Divided into nine parts, one of several strengths of this handbook is that the chapters are grouped across a wide array of topics. In what follows, I briefly touch on the considerations critically taken up by the authors. Early in the first section, Misiaszek, Popoff, and Abdi powerfully contend, “Critical work in education is intrinsically radical in that it epistemologically disrupts long held and rigid ideological justification of oppressions and forms of domination” (p. 7). Their perspective is upheld by the other authors in this section, and indeed the authors in subsequent sections. Signifying the import of digital literacies, Kellner and Gennaro acknowledge the need for multiple literacies. Jackson advocates for the “politics of educating emotions [which] considers how different people are expected or encouraged to feel and express emotions in social contexts” such in and out of schools (p. 56). Highlighting the special case of young people, Abdi illuminates, “Africans are fully connected to the world and to all its desires and aspirations for better lives, even when they are not economically so endowed” (p. 74). In the second section, Dei and Adhami pose the provocative question of what the implications are for schooling and education when decolonization and anti-colonialism are being advanced while anti-Blackness is being fought (p. 89). Bassey builds the case “that we should prepare teachers for human rights and transformative justice agenda in American schools” (p. 98). Opini argues disabled students in British Columbia, Canada, grapple with ableism and oppression in schools and proposes “B.C. special needs policy adopt an intersectional approach to disability” (p.118). Guo and Guo, considering the lived experiences of international students, commence section three with a strong condemnation “of Canadian exceptionalism as a myth in contrast to the actual policies and practices of the internationalization of Canadian higher education” (p. 131). Extending the discussion on global citizen education (GCE), Kim and Yoo explore teachers’ perceptions and experiences of GCE in South Korea through in-depth interviews. El Bouhali draws attention to “the marginalization of immigrant teachers in Canada” (p. 164). Turning to mainland China, Zhang discusses a “four-year ethnographic study on democratic education … in two Chinese public schools” (p. 182). Extrapolating from their multiyear study with students and teachers in Canada, Bangladesh, and Mexico, Bickmore and Fathallah focus on “the lived social conflicts experienced by marginalized youth” and the relationship between their “daily schooling” and “citizenship agency for transforming those conflicts” (p. 202). Tierney and Morgan offer a critique in the ways in which universities (continue to) fall short in their policy and practice for the recognition of Indigenous knowing and understanding. Proposing a Marxist education policy, Hill outlines five questions that need to be asked regarding: curriculum and assessment, pedagogy, organizational culture, organization of the students and school, and the ownership, control, and management of schools. Brunette-Debassige and Viczko articulate the urgent need for universities to “interrogate its deeper allegiances to global capitalism, colonialism, white supremacy, hetero-patriarchy and nationalism” (p. 263). Emphasizing the import of localized language, Babaci-Wilhite provides an innovative model for STEM that integrates the arts. Misiaszek explicates “ecopedagogical literacy is for deepening and widening understandings of environmental violence to determine necessary transformative action” (p. 303). …