Attallah Faculty Publishes Timely Book on Ethnic Studies

Raza Struggle and the Movement for Ethnic Studies: Decolonial Pedagogies, Literacies, and Methodologies by Miguel Zavala, Ph.D., Associate Professor in the Attallah College of Educational Studies, was recently published by Peter Lang.

Dr. Zavala’s book presents an investigation of decolonization in the context of education and what this means for Ethnic Studies projects. It accomplishes this exploration by looking at the history of Raza communities, defined broadly as the Indigenous and mestizo working class peoples from Latin America, with a focus on the complex yet unifying Chicanx-Mexican experience in the U.S. Southwest.

His book sets to bridge the fields of history, pedagogy, and decolonization, through a creative, interweaving methodology that includes critical historiography, dialogue, autoethnography, and qualitative inquiry. Collectively, the set of chapters in the book open new ground, challenging scholars and educators to rethink critical education rooted in traditional and Western frameworks.

“Miguel Zavala’s work on the struggle and movement for Raza Studies and Ethnic Studies could not be timelier or more critical in this era of the rise of fascism and its fear-based reaction to the demographic shift that has taken place in public schools, particularly in the U.S. Southwest,” said Sean Arce, an educational consultant for the Xicanx Institute for Teaching and Organizing (XITO).