HIGHER EDUCATION Democratic Dialogue in Education: Troubling Speech, Disturbing Silence. Megan

Democratic Dialogue in Education: Troubling Speech, Disturbing Silence edited by Megan Boler is a philosophical inquiry into the merits of fostering democratic dialogue in the college classroom through the selective silencing and voicing of student participants. The contributors offer creative and sometimes conflicting perspectives on the use of dialogue in the classroom; however, all are critical theorists committed to empowering minority students and challenging discrimination. Drawing from well-known scholars ranging from Paulo Freire to Michel de Certeau to Judith Butler, the authors make complex claims that challenge academics to critically reconsider the ways classroom practices can either passively advocate or actively dismantle dominant ideologies of racism, sexism, and homophobia. The excellent essays in Democratic Dialogue in Education respond to Boler’s initial proposal for ‘‘affirmative action pedagogy’’ that intentionally silences dominant voices in order to foreground the experiences of marginalized groups. Boler’s goal is to cultivate democratic dialogue in college classrooms, which she defines as a conversation where any expression of racism, homophobia, anti-Semitism, sexism, ableism, or classism is critically analyzed. According to Boler, ‘‘an affirmative action pedagogy seeks to ensure that we bear witness to marginalized voices in our classrooms, even at the minor cost of limiting dominant ones’’ (p. 4). In this case, dominant voices belong to white, heterosexual, middle-class men and sometimes women. The idea is to deliberately silence these students to create a space for nonprivileged students to speak out, a process Boler justifies through ‘‘historicized ethics’’ (p. 7). Boler asserts that despite the nation’s promise of free speech, America’s violent history of minority oppression has created a