Date of Creation
5-2023
Degree Type
Thesis
First Advisor
Prof. Daina Harvey
Abstract
This research paper seeks to explore the relationship between professional political actors and the subject of racism in primary education curricula, specifically in areas with prominent anti-CRT movements. Synthesizing these ideas together, the fully formed research question guiding the development of this paper reads as follows: how does the lobbying industry impact the development of primary education curricula in the United States on the subjects of race and racism, specifically in reference to anti-CRT activism? The extant literature on topics of racism, the institution of lobbying, and primary education in America, led to the development of the following thesis and response to the research question: lobbying, as a social institution, will advance the interests of systemic white supremacy by advocating for CRT bans, and thus curricula that maintain the epistemology of ignorance. Other scholars have proposed competing answers to this same question, which the literature review discusses and rebukes. These alternative answers come largely from legal and political science scholars who understand the outcomes of lobbying at large, not just upon this particular policy issue, as the consequence of pluralistic competition in a liberal democracy.
Recommended Citation
Martin, Liam, "You Have the Right to Remain Uneducated: The Role of Lobbying in Subverting Anti-Racist Curricula" (2023). Washington Semester Program. 7.
https://crossworks.holycross.edu/washington/7
Comments
Written for Department of Sociology at the College of the Holy Cross.