Introduction: The threads of school uniforms woven in/with/through countries

As socio-material frames of analysis have become more important, this book focuses on a key aspect of young people’s experiences of schooling. While there has been academic debate on school uniform in Australia and the USA in relation to student achievement, reducing violence and gang culture and in relation to gender, the legacy of the British tradition of school uniform remains under-explored. Coming together as an eclectic scholarship the contributors engage with theory, policy formation and lived experiences differently. Giving rise to diverse and engaging contributions, to disrupt the dominant narrative of control, discipline and neoliberal logic with a sense of urgency. Thus, we bring together a posthuman and materialist approach to understanding the various legacies and controls being exercised through school uniforms. The book brings together accounts from the Caribbean, England, Ireland, Scotland and Zimbabwe to
illustrate this colonial legacy. As well as looking at the potential ways that school uniform could be decolonialised, the book also considers the degendering and decarbonisation of school uniform.