Resistance to Systemic and Institutional Racism: Traveller Activism and Resilience During COVID-19 Times

Conference: The European Conference on Education (ECE2021)
Title: Resistance to Systemic and Institutional Racism: Traveller Activism and Resilience During COVID-19 Times
Stream: Education, Sustainability & Society: Social Justice, Development & Political Movements
Presentation Type: Live-Stream Presentation
Authors:
Anne Marie Kavanagh, DCU Institute of Education, Ireland
Maeve Dupont, DCU Institute of Education, Ireland

Abstract:

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed and exacerbated entrenched systemic inequalities both within and between countries (Goldin & Muggah, 2020; Vickers & Hutchings, 2020). In the Irish context, the incidence rate of COVID-19 infection among the Traveller Community, which is an indigenous Irish nomadic group, exceeds twice that of the wider population (Pavee Point, 2021). These disparities lay bare the structural and institutional inequalities that shape Travellers’ experiences of the sedentary world. Despite the challenges of the pandemic, the Traveller Community has continued in its efforts to agitate for its rights, including in the area of education. In recent times, this resistance and activism has involved the introduction and progression of a bill through the Irish parliament which seeks to make the teaching of Traveller history and culture mandatory in Irish primary and second level schools. This presentation seeks to examine both the activism and resilience of the Traveller Community in progressing its agenda in education. Using critical social justice scholarship, it critically examines the Traveller Culture and History in Education Bill 2018 and questions whether curricular representation of Traveller history and culture can play a role in disrupting the reiterative reproduction of institutional anti-Traveller racism (Goldin, I., & Muggah, R. 2020) Covid-19 is increasing multiple kinds of inequality. Here’s what we can do about it.



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