ABSTRACT

Efforts to desegregate schools have consistently been undermined by privileged parents finding ways to avoid undesirable schools. In some contexts, a more complex picture is emerging, where ‘progressive’ privileged parents choose ‘diverse’ schools but still reproduce segregation. We demonstrate how the desegregation aims of an Indian education policy are similarly undermined by seemingly well-intentioned privileged actors. India’s Right to Education Act of 2009 requires private schools to educate disadvantaged children for free. The architects of this policy imagined that it would not only provide access to quality education for disadvantaged children, but also desegregate schools. Beneficiaries of the policy share the policymakers’ vision of desegregation. However, various elite and middle-class actors prioritise access over integration, and assert that segregated classrooms may be in the best interests of underprivileged children. This highlights how desegregation policies can fail not just as a result of direct opposition but also through discourses of benevolence.

摘要

取消学校种族隔离的努力一直受到特权父母想方设法避开不受欢迎的学校的破坏。在某些情况下，出现了更复杂的情况，“进步”的特权父母选择“多元化”学校，但仍然重现隔离。我们展示了印度教育政策的废除种族隔离目标如何同样受到看似善意的特权行为者的破坏。印度 2009 年的教育权法案要求私立学校免费为弱势儿童提供教育。这项政策的设计者设想，它不仅能为弱势儿童提供接受优质教育的机会，还能取消学校种族隔离。该政策的受益者与政策制定者的废除种族隔离愿景一致。然而，各种精英和中产阶级参与者将访问优先于整合，并断言隔离教室可能最符合贫困儿童的最大利益。这凸显了废除种族隔离政策不仅会因为直接反对而失败，还会因为仁慈的话语而失败。