C. Wright Mills would be a “friendly critic” of service-learning, acknowledging benefits while being critical of ways that particular practices can perpetuate institutional power inequalities. The authors discuss Mills’ stance and use CBPR projects undertaken together by students from an elite university and a smaller minority-serving university as a case study to determine practices for effective collaboration between diverse institutions.
Marullo, S., Moayedi, R., & Cooke, D. (2009). C. Wright Mill’s friendly critique of service learning and an innovative response: Cross-institutional collaborations for community-based research. Teaching Sociology, 37(1), 61-75. Full Text.