Building Power, Breaking Power

“Chanin’s compelling exploration of fifty years of work by the United Teachers of New Orleans (UTNO) is a call to action to support racially diverse and community-based public schools and community-engaged public work. . . . Building Power, Breaking Power inspires readers to champion the same successful ends in the schools and communities that they serve.”—Journal of Southern History

“Building Power, Breaking Power makes notable contributions to the historiographies of teachers’ union in the United States, Black teachers and the civil rights movement, and the post-1965 urban South. . . . Given that historians of American teachers’ unions have focused on regions where white educators dominated the profession, this is a valuable corrective.”—Historical Studies in Education

“An excellent history of the people who made the [education] system work, anchored its communities, and never failed to advocate for its students. Building Power, Breaking Power . . .  makes important contributions to the fields of labor history, education history, Southern history, African American history, and urban histories of neoliberalism.”—The Metropole

“Chanin is clear that everything [The United Teachers of New Orleans] fought for—and the strategies it developed to great effect—remains in high demand in New Orleans, and wherever ‘reforms’ have worked to divide educators, schools, and working-class communities.”—Labor

“Chanin’s unpacking of [the United Teachers of New Orleans]’s story is a crucial addition to the literature on labor movements and oral histories.”—Oral History Review

“Building Power, Breaking Power is an important work that historians of labor, neoliberalism, civil rights, and education will find a useful and crucial addition to the historiography.“—Louisiana History

“Chanin’s analysis excels at underlining the ethos of internal democracy and interracial cooperation that defined [the United Teachers of New Orleans].”—Journal of American History

“Meticulously researched, this book places Black teachers and their fight for equality at the forefront of a political narrative that has long marginalized them. Moreover, it offers crucial insights into the ongoing debates surrounding public education, teachers' unions, civil rights, and neoliberal reform, making it an essential read for those seeking a comprehensive understanding of these interconnected issues.”—William P. Jones, University of Minnesota

“A riveting history and insightful analysis, this work exposes the racism and conservative school reform tactics that were used to dismantle a formidable economic, political, and socially impactful Black-led teachers' union following a natural disaster. This work is poised to make a compelling and substantive argument to critical education reform debates.”—Rebecca Kolins Givan, Rutgers University