Acknowledgement

I wish to acknowledge my students over the years who willingly engaged with my essays in class, enthusiastically discussing them, giving me feedback and calling me out when I made mistakes.  Writing my own textbook allowed me to be my most passionate and engage with my students in an authentic fashion. I was able to introduce concepts from a wide variety of fields and it was indeed a gift to be able to see students connect the dots and form a comprehensive picture of the world around them.  Students today stand at the edge of great changes both personally and as subjects and actors in the larger world.  My desire in writing the book was to help students articulate their experiences with clarity and engage in constructing a vision for the future with each other.  I am grateful to my students for providing me with encouragement and feedback in this journtey.

I stand on the broad shoulders of the many giants that helped shape the edifice of the various disciplines that I have drawn from in trying to understand the experiences of young people.  The great theorists in psychology, from Sigmund Freud, Uri Bronfenbrenner, to Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky have always drawn me to their work.  Some of the philosophers who had a deep impact on me include Michel Foucault, Edward Said, John Rawls and Hannah Arendt all of whom I have introduced in the book. The number of theorists and philosophers who inspired me to think more deeply about the subject and weave them into holistic understanding are too many to mention in this page.

I am grateful to my colleagues and co-workers who make my workday rich and fulfilling. The State University of New York at New Paltz has given me the space and autonomy to dabble in creative thought and writing; I often think of my good fortune in being able to come to work excited to be engaging in the work that I do. Too many workers in the American economy are left to feel like cogs with few rewards for the effort they put in.  My departmental co-workers inspire me to be the best teacher and writer I can be.  Autumn Joy Floencio-Wain has been crucial to the current form the book ; I am so grateful to her.  A special shout out to the departmental administrative assistant Terri Maphis who is the backbone of the department.  She has been a friend, a guide and an assistant for so many years and makes my work life possible.  I am so obliged to my research assistant Laura Arias who has helped with research, writing, proof-reading, providing charts, graphs and photographs. Her boundless enthusiasm for social justice and transformational change is so infectious, she takes me right along for the ride.

Finally, I would like to thank my family for inspiring me in their special ways. My parents loved learning and impressed upon me the value of a creative life. My father was himself so well read in many different areas that before the age of the internet he was called by friends a walking encyclopedia. My mother made sure her two daughters understood the need for a career and independence.  My children Adityan and Ananthan with their critical political sensibilities, provide me with unique insights about growing up in the margins of a settler colonial country. My partner Daniel James keeps me laughing even when I feel discouraged.  Thanks.

Gowri Parameswaran