The neutral order of things: Race, faith and schooling in liberal democracy

This paper examines young people’s engagement with issues of race and faith equality in school against the backdrop of right-wing political shifts in England and globally, focusing on the politics of impartiality or neutrality. We use data from a survey of 3,156 Year-10 pupils across 29 state-funded secondary schools in England. Data were analysed using multinomial logistic regression. The findings reveal a significant correlation between teacher behaviours and pupil engagement. We show, for example, that discussion of Black Lives Matter and ‘white privilege’ in school, while often depicted in right-wing discourse as ‘divisive’ and ‘woke indoctrination’, significantly increases the likelihood of pupils saying that their teachers encourage them to express their views and think independently. We argue that contemporary impartiality policy in education is not neutral but reflects the ‘neutral order of things’, i.e. a ‘hegemonic intervention’ aimed at aligning schooling and political education with right-wing social and political ideals.