Racism has been endemic in the history of western societies, while the nature of race as a social category of difference is controversial and rigorously contested from scholarly and everyday perspectives today. This edited collection traces the history of considerations of the meaning and importance of race and racism in society and education through a deep dive into the contents of the archives of the journal Educational Philosophy and Theory.

Journal articles from the 1970s to today have been carefully selected throughout the text to showcase the trends and transformations in the field of educational philosophy over time. While historically western analytic philosophy of education did not focus particularly on race and racism, this changed in the 1990s, with the emergence of critical conversations about social justice that moved beyond liberal models. More recently, historical and theoretical accounts have sought to understand the processes of racialization in depth, as well as the intersectional nature of race privilege and discrimination across contemporary diverse societies worldwide. Taken together, the pieces in this book illustrates both the history of theorizing about race and racism in educational philosophy and theory as well as the breadth of present-day concerns.

This collection provides a foundation for developing a historical understanding of the position of race and racism in philosophy of education, while it also inspires new works in Critical Race Theory, Black and African Studies, critical pedagogy, and related areas. Additionally, it will inspire educators and scholars across diverse fields to further consider the significance of race and racism in education and in research in the present age.

Liz Jackson is Professor of Education at the Education University of Hong Kong. She is also President of the Philosophy of Education Society of Australasia and the former Director of the Comparative Education Research Centre at the University of Hong Kong. Her interests are in philosophy of education, moral philosophy, and global studies. She is the author of Muslims and Islam in US Education: Reconsidering Multiculturalism (2014), Questioning Allegiance: Resituating Civic Education (2019) and Beyond Virtue: The Politics of Educating Emotions (2020).

Michael A. Peters is Distinguished Professor of Education at Beijing Normal University and Emeritus Professor at the University of Illinois. He is the Executive Editor of the journal Educational Philosophy and Theory. His interests are in education, philosophy, and social policy, and he is the author of over 100 books, including The Chinese Dream: Educating the Future (2019), Wittgenstein, Education and Rationality (2020) and Wittgenstein: Antifoundationalism, Technoscience and Education (2020).