American Educational Research Association

On Paulo Freire's Philosophy of Praxis and the Foundations of Liberation Education Author(s): Ronald David Glass Source: Educational Researcher, Vol. 30, No. 2 (Mar., 2001), pp. 15-25 Published by: American Educational Research Association Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3594336 Accessed: 22/08/2009 14:50
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On

Paulo

Freire's

Philosophy

of

Praxis

and the Foundations of Liberation Education

by RonaldDavidGlass
This essay examinesthe ontologicaland epistemologicalfoundations of PauloFreire'sphilosophyof praxisand critiquesthe structure of his argument.It outlines a more consistent historicistinterpretation of liberation education that retains the liberatory power of modernism and its critiqueof dehumanization, recognizes the malleability and contradictionsof identity,embraces epistemic uncertainties and the varieties of reason in knowledge, and respects the plural conceptions of the good which can shape moral and politicallife. Fiof nally,the essay arguesthat this understanding liberationeducation requiresan ethics grounded in militantnonviolence.

Nearlyfour yearsafterhis death,a world still mournsPaulo Freire.Freire's betweenliberation theoryaboutthe relationship and educationhas inspiredand informedcountlessefforts to make life more humane for those oppressedby economic and that structures deniedthem theirdignity,rights,and ideological self-determination. ideasin Pedagogy The (1970) ofthe Oppressed havebeen appliedon everycontinent,in projectsrangingfrom basicliteracyprograms nationaleducationalpolito grassroots cies. Manypeopleengagedin progressive for struggles justiceteachers,students,communityorganizers, workers,movement activists,and citizensfrom everywalk of life-who readFreire found reflections theirown thinking;manywho heardFreire of speakfound shapefor their own words;manywho studiedhis workdiscovered worth translating theirown coninto practices texts. Freire'slegacy is unprecedented an educator:None for in otherhasinfluenced of practice sucha wide array contextsand cultures,or helpedto enableso manyof the world'sdisempoweredturneducationtowardtheirown dreams.Livesand institutionalspacesarestillbeingtransformed his contributions, the by of still and struggles the oppressed drawfromhis insights, democraciesareenrichedby the voices of the poor and workingclass ideashaveentered amplifiedthroughFreirean projects.Freire's educational fromthe mostcosmopolitan discourse centersto the mostremotecorners the earth,andnot sinceJohnDeweyhave of the thoughts of a philosopherof education impacted such a broadsphereof publiclife in the U.S. The 20th anniversary the publication Pedagogy of of ofthe Opa globalbest-seller with more than half a million copies pressed, in printin Englishalone,prompteda numberof scholars unto dertakefreshanalysesof Freire's work and to situateit historically as the progenitorof a new domainof educational inquiry and practice(Giroux& Macedo, 1994; McLaren& Lankshear,
Educational Vol. Researcher, 30. No. 2, pp. 15-25

Freire him& 1994;McLaren Leonard, 1993),justasit prompted on self to reflectcritically the strengthsand limits of his theory deathin May 1997 stilledhis own voice (Freire,1994b). Freire's to and haltedhis personalcontributions criticalpedagogy,leavit to us, the survivors,to sustain his legacy, translatehis ing to vision,andcompletethe tasksremaining buildjust, democratic societies. A pedagogy the oppressed as neededtodayaswhen Freire of is firstarticulated Globaleconomicforcesand domesticpolitics it. and toward evermorenarrow conserpressU.S. publiceducation vativeagendas, thusreinscribing justifying and povertyandpowwith and theirassociation particular erlessness (il)literacies through AmerLow-income failure standardized (Shannon, on tests 1998). icans face an increasing educationgap as the testing stakesget raised aspublicschoolresources morebroadly are and privatized. Vouchersand school choice plans reinforceand extend educational, economic, and socialinequality(Carnoy,2000). At the the same time, voter initiativecampaignsmarginalize voices of in schoolsandreinvigorate exclusionary an speakers non-English linguisticcolonialism(Macedo,2000). All theseeffects,coupled with the growingincome gap betweenthe rich and poor (Center on Budgetand PolicyPriorities, 2000), promisepredictable populanegative consequencesfor historicallydisadvantaged tions, and even moreso when thereis a downturnin the overall economy. The dominant (neo)conservative discourseblames the victims of these policies for their own suffering,suggestingthat a moral poverty prefigurestheir social and economic predicaments (Bennett, 1996), and the ideological attack on public schools and teachers threatens deeply grounded democratic possibilitiesin the culture (Berliner& Biddle, 1995). Meanof while, the reformism the (neo)liberals produceslittle change in either urbanschools or their largercontext (Anyon, 1997), and thus little changein the dailylivesof the poorwho areconcentratedthere. Most multiculturaleducationapproaches fail to address injustice and the challenges of transforminginequitablepowerrelations(McCarthy,1990; Nieto, 2000), and even antiracistpedagogiescan succumbto accommodationto the statusquo (Flecha,1999). Without a clearfocuson the politics of schooling and the need for community organizingto build and sustain meaningful reform, little has been accomwherepeopleof coloroccupyedplishedevenin urbandistricts ucationaland civic leadership positions (Henig, Hula, Orr, & Pedescleaux,1999). Freire's critical"pedagogy possibility" of offerstheoretical and alternatives both the (neo)conservative (neo)libto and practical eraldiscourses practices and (McLaren, 1999). At the classroom

aimedat empowering level,curricula young childrenand develtheir capacitiesto resistinterpersonal and promote bias oping have been finding wider audiences(Derman-Sparks, equality & 1989; Schniedewind Davidson, 1998), and moreteachereducators are encouragingcritical pedagogicalpracticesamong theirstudents,generating evenwidereffects(Wink,2000).' The organic literaciesof the working class are being harnessedto contest the deformingmessages the dominantschool culture of (Cushman,1998; Finn, 1999), and workersarefindingcritical literacyskillsusefulin workplace struggles(Hull, 1997). Social movementsand activists havetranslated Freire's ideasinto orgawith broadapplicability (Arnold,Burke, James, nizingprograms Martin,& Thomas, 1991; Findlay,1994).2Althoughsystemic school reformeffortsbasedon Freire's theoryhavebeen limited to the Brazilian context (Freire,1993; O'Cadiz,Wong, largely & Torres, 1998), at leastone majorprojectis underway the in U.S.3Beyondall this, Freirecontinuesto be mustered service to in a wide rangeof theoretical battles,fromthe politicsof differto culturalstudies,to feminismand racematters(Steiner, ence, fundaKrank,McLaren,& Bahruth,2000). Interestin Freire's mental ideas is strong enough to prompt the HarvardEducationalReviewto reprinthis 1970 seminalessayson culturalaction forfreedom(Freire, 1998b, 1998c),andforacademic presses suchas Berginand Garvey,Routlege,Falmer,and SUNY to devote book seriesto criticalpedagogy.Freire's and theoryinlife dreams(McLaren, 2000) and a spirecontinuingrevolutionary wide arrayof transformative programs(see the specialissue of guest Convergence editedby Allman,Cavanagh, Hang, Haddad, & Mayo, 1998, for a sampling). and formulaDespitethe vastpanoplyof activities theoretical tions that claimallegiance or derivation to from Freire's theory, havebeenraised It aboutitssoundness. seems important questions that often a blind eye is turnedtowardthesetheoretical difficulties, and insteadan adoringgaze treatsFreiremore as icon and myththanas a radical philosopher subjectto the limitsof history anda necessarily situated (Weiler,1996). It is truethat perspective Freire took to heartone of Marx's of critiques Feuerbach-"The haveonly interpretedthe world,in various philosophers ways;the it" point, however,is to change (Marx& Engels, 1978, p. 145; this emphasisin original)-and accomplished point on a scale honoring Marx himself. However, while Marx'sand Freire's in of legaciesareassured the thicknessof life, the durability their is the arguments far less certain.Freireacknowledged limits of his theoretical defendedthe core of statements,but steadfastly his theoryandjuxtaposed in inconsistencies his theoryagainst his morecongruent radical andhis rightto evolvemorenupractice ancedarticulations his view (Freire, of & 1994b;Freire Faundez, of praxisat the centerof 1992). Given the Marxian philosophy his theory,Freire's claim for his practiceto be the most telling basisforjudgmenthasits merits,but this defensedoes not abroRadicals gateour obligationto examinecloselyFreire's analysis. do not havethe luxuryof cursory idolatrous or of Freire's study to for theorysince any improvements it offerpossibilities more effectivestruggle,and manytheoretical practical and challenges must be facedin orderto realizeFreire's vision and hope. of The remainder this articlesketchesthe philosophical foundationsof Freire's viewof liberation education,andpresents and
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EDUCATIONAL RESEARCHER

some of the critiquesthat underminethe argumentative structureof the theory.It outlinesa moreconsistentundergirding for educationasa practice freedomas "akindofhistorico-cultural of and political psychoanalysis"4 a more defensible"progressive the (Freire,1994b, p. 55, p. 10) that preserves postmodernism" ethicaland politicalthrustat the coreof Freire's ideas.The chalpowerof lenge is to constructa view that retainsthe liberatory modernismand its critiqueof dehumanization, that recogbut nizesthe malleability contradictions identity(at both the of and level of the individualand of classes,races,and genders),embracesthe ineliminableepistemicuncertainties varietiesof and of reasonin our knowing,and respects plurality compelling the of the good whichcanshapemoralandpoliticallife. conceptions Insofaras this challengecan be met, Freire's philosophiclegacy will endure. Education as a Practice of Freedom: Freire's Argument his Freire of as developed conceptionof education a practice freedom froma critical reflection various on adulteducation projects he undertookin Brazilin the late 1950s and early 1960s (see of Thatis, the theory Gadotti,1994, fora review thisemergence). was part of a praxis,"reflection and action upon the world in orderto transformit" (Freire,1970, p. 36). At the same time, Freire'stheory was based on an ontological argument that positedpraxisas a centraldefiningfeatureof human life and a condition of freedom.Freirecontendedthat human necessary natureis expressed throughintentional,reflective,meaningful and activitysituatedwithin dynamichistorical culturalcontexts that shapeand set limitson that activity.The praxisthat defines human existenceis markedby this historicity,this dialectical interplaybetweenthe way in which historyand culturemake people even while people aremakingthat veryhistoryand culture.Humanhistoricity enables realization freedom, of the openwaysof beingwithinanygivensiting up choicesamongvarious uation.At the level of our being human,freedomcan neverbe eliminated fromexistence, whileat the levelof ourconcrete pracand tices,freedomis not a givenbut is always precarious mustbe achieved.In the everyday to world, opportunities embodyfreedom arerealized throughcommitmentsto strugglefor one way of life or another. Freirearguedthat the struggleto be free, to be human and makehistoryandculturefromthe givensituation,is an inherent in is bepossibility the humancondition.The struggle necessary causethe situationcontainsnot only this possibilityfor humanDehumanizationmakes ization, but also for dehumanization. people objectsof historyand culture,and deniestheir capacity to also be self-definingsubjectscreatinghistory and culture. These dehumanizing forcesresidein both the material psyand chic conditionsof personsand situations,so freedomrequires peopleto engagein a kind of historico-cultural politicalpsychoFreire the analysis. arguesthat overcoming limitsof situationsis ultimatelyan educationalenterprisethat he calls a practiceof form of culturalre-creation that enables freedom,a permanent the fullestpossibleexpression humanexistence. of Freire Further, holds that democraticsocialismprovidesthe necessary conditions for each personto achievehis or her freedom,to become fullyhuman.

in Beforeexamining summary this argument moredetail,it is Freire followsa long tradition structure. usefulto note its overall in philosophy when he links a particularunderstandingof with a conceptionof the properformation both of humannature self and society.5 Within this tradition,some type of education and moral life mediatesthe cultivationof human natureinto ideal forms of individualand social existence.In other words, humannaturealone cannotproducethe good life, but must be into specificformsthat enablethe realizashapedand nurtured tion of what is best and most fruitfulfor a community.Education drawsout thesepossibilities fromhumannature,and at the of sametime instillsa moralordercapable resisting impulsesthat is good for eachpersonand the threaten attainment what the of thus because withoutit, human Education is essential community. lifewouldnot riseto thelevelof existence wouldrather but remain at the levelof instinctandbasicsurvival needs.As Freire it put
I cannot understand humanbeingsas simplyliving.I can understandthem only as historically, and culturally, sociallyexisting...

I can understand of themonlyas beings who aremakers their in of "way," themaking which laythemselves to orcomthey open remitthemselves the"way" theymake thattherefore to that and in makes themaswell.(Freire, 1994b, 97;emphasis original) p.

Language,culture,history,and communityare dependenton to education,on freedomand the capacity createforms("ways") of life. Practical reasonand knowledgearecentralin the workof ethicalandpoliticalformation,not so much as deliberative tools but as integralto the actionscreatingcultureand history. Freire's view parallels and John Dewey'spragmatism, a brief will help clarifyFreire'sargument.Dewey had a comparison conceptionof human existenceand he held biological-organic that educationwas a lifelong processof growth and development intrinsicto individualand socialself-realization (Dewey, cathat 1916/1966). He maintained humanbeingsarecreatures to the environof socialand critically reflective pable adaptation mentto enabletheirsuccessful of coping(satisfaction basicneeds), do and that this abilitydifferslittle fromwhat othercreatures in orderto survive. Humanbeingssimplyhaveparticular capacities for intelligence socialorganization enablethe formation and that of of culture, the maximal insure and development thosecapacities a successful the survival civilization of (itselfmerely adaptation). For Dewey, the most successful adaptations requireknowledge in formedand warranted particular ways (Dewey, 1922/1930). in via acthabitually patterns transmitted imitated Mostly,people in But littleuseof intelligence. newsituations practice, requiring or which habitsproveinadequate problemsemergemake conduct becomemoredeliberate. Now, knowledgegetsconstructed and testing hypotheses intended to reestablish by forming smooth functioningor enlargeeffectivecoping habits.This inis to telligentadaptation the environment subjectin turnto furthercyclesof modification development. and Dewey arguedthat the same conditions that maximizethis those linkedto the evolutionary adaptive potentialareprecisely formationof the idealsociety:full participation, open communication with minimal barriers,criticalexperimentalpractice aimedat overcomingproblems,and close attentionto the consequencesof actions.These conditionsexplainboth the power of science, which refinesthem to producesoundly warranted

knowledge,and the strengthof democracy,which emphasizes their implementationin politics. That is, Dewey's naturalized to philosophypostulateda biologicalsubstrate explainthe preeminent value of scientificand democraticpractices(Dewey, 1920/1957). Freirewould agree with most points in this summaryof Dewey's conception of human existence.But, in contrast,he betweenhuman builthis theorynot so muchon the continuities and the restof the animalworld,but on the discontinubeings ities. Dewey'snaturalistic focuson continuitiesperhaps explains his relativeemphasison deliberativeprocessesand behaviors with otheranimals thusmorecloselytied to biology) and (shared less and the comparatively attentionhe devotesto communicaand the humanistic reverses emphasis atview tiveaction.Freire's to integratedeliberative communicativeactions in and tempts cultureandhisrole and theirparticular distinctive in producing is that humansare For Freire,what is crucially tory. important animalsthat operatenot only from reflex,habit,or even intellithey areanimalsthat exist meaningfully gent creativeresponse; in and with the worldof historyand culturethathumansthemselveshaveproduced.Freirethinks that if we fail to grasphow the capacityfor historical,cultural,linguistic praxismakesus differentfrom the restof the organicand inorganicworld,6we will fail to be able to transformsociety towarda vision of justice and democracy,the goal he and Dewey shared.Freireand in Dewey groundedtheirarguments ontologicalinterpretations to of humanexistenceand assumedthis as necessary orientany educational intendedto enablehumanfloursuccessful practice ishing, though they had somewhat different interpretations throughwhich to frametheirtheories.Dewey opted for a naturalismthat relied on a scientific, evolutionary,developmental while Freireelecteda humanistview that reliedon a approach, culturaland historicistconceptionof freedomthat insiststhat and humansshouldnot be the mereanimalsthatoppressors opto turn them into. pressivesystemstry of feature being ForFreire, essentially the definingontological humanis thatpeopleproducehistoryandculture,evenashistory andcultureproducethem,andthusboth the theoryandapplication of educationas a practice freedom"takethe people'shisof toricityas theirstarting point"(Freire,1994a,p. 65). The dialectical interplaybetween existenceand context revealsthat any givensituation,includingone's identityand self-understanding, is not a necessity.Situations identitiescongealin the course and of time underthe pressof historyand culture,but most imporof tantlyalsounderthe influence humanaction,andtheyarethus to The to susceptible humanintervention, the powerof freedom. of historicity thus not only defineshumannaontologicaltruth turefor Freire, groundshis theoryof liberation provides but and the openingfor concreteeffortsto transform realities. oppressive A practical graspof historicityby the oppressedmeansthey understand theirsituationand themselves fatalistically an not as stateof affairs if theirsuffering justifiedby was (as unchangeable divinewill or naturallaw, or was the just dessertsof individual but theirdailylives as presentfailures), rather they understand for ing concreteproblemsalongwith opportunities transformation. Theysee thatlife (includingthemselves) couldbe different, andthe moreclearly are theydiscernwhythings(andthemselves) as they areand howthey could be otherwise,the more effective
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selftheirinterventions be to enablegreater andcommunitycan to realization. oppressed challenged see beyondindividThe are ualisticexperiences particular and situationsto discernthe force of systemsand ideologiesthat permeatetheir daily lives, structure oppression(dehumanization), bind peopletogetherin and andsometimes contexts.The connections between global, larger, forceshighlightthe features andtheselarger everyday experience of problematic that "limit-situations" must be changedby collective "limit-acts" both contest those systemsand ideolothat or gies and aim at "untestedfeasibilities" possiblefutureswith morespacefor self-determination Freire,1994a, 1994b). (see The historical,cultural,and social backgroundshapes the presentcontext, from the privacyof family life to the public the of spheres the stateandmassmedia.It establishes fieldwithin which freeactioncan move, and even outlinespossiblepsychologicalstatesand the most intimateaspectsof a self, from idenconstraints that pretity to feelingsand desires.The situational vent freedomarethus alsoalwaysinternaland not only external to individuals. Humanbeingsinhabit,and areinhabitedby, the and structures, institutions,socialrelations, self-understandings that comprisea people'sculture.The practiceof freedom,as a criticalreflexive praxis,must graspthe outwarddirection,meanof ing, and consequences action,and alsoits inwardmeaningas the realization articulation a self.Therefore, and of educationas a practiceof freedommust includea kind of historico-cultural, that of politicalpsychoanalysis reveals theformation the selfand in its situation all theirdynamicand dialectical relations. People then becomecritically as consciousof themselves the verysorts of creatures produce(andareproduced theircultureand that by) and to realize theirfreedomtheybecomeengagedin libhistory, acts the of and eratory thatchallenge limits(internal external) particularsituationsthat maintainoppression injustice.Human or to freedomis not outsideparticular but situations is geared them. While the context"programs" their peopleto see and experience situationin a particular it does not "determine" people how way, areor canbe (Freire, 1994b,p. 98). Peoplearenot freeto choose the time, place,meanings, and standards, so on, into which they havebeenthrownby theirbirth,yet theyareableto takeup specific stanceswithin that contextand makeof it what they may. Freeactionstrives go beyondthe givenreality positandcreto to ate a new futurethrougheffortandstruggle, futurethatcannot a be simplydeclared into existence mustbe achieved. but Freirearguedthat liberation,oppression,and their interrelation are contingent facts, while from an ontological point of the marks to view,humanhistoricity precisely possibility choose one wayof life or another."Just humannature, it generates as so, itself in history,does not contain, as part and parcelof itself, exceptas the vocabeingmore,does not containhumanization, in tionwhosecontrary distortion history" is (Freire,1994b,p. 99; in Freire notionof voemphasis original). deploysthe theological cationto build a link betweenparticular contingentchoices,for human ontologicalcapacities.He and universal humanization, a wantsto invokea typeof authenticity distinguishes wayof that living that expressesthe deepest, most primordialaspects of This vocationembodiesfreedom,andthrough humanexistence. inand humanizingactionpeopleunderstand becomecritically tentionalabout theircreationof cultureand history.Inauthentic waysof beingdistortthisontologicalessenceof beinghuman,
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and deny some people the possibilityand right of being selfThis and defining,self-realizing, self-determining. denialdefines or dehumanization oppression. which [W]earethisbeing-a beingof ongoing, curious, search,
"stepsback"from itselfandfiom thelife it leads..... [W]e live the and life of a vocation,a calling,to humanization, ... in dehumanization... we live the life of a distortion thecall-never another of

in 1994b, 98;emphasis original) (Freire, p. calling. Here Freireis extendinghis argumentabout liberation,for by conjoiningthe theologicalnotions of calling and vocation, he of the emphasizes particularity each individualresponseto the that demandsof the humancondition.He maintained universal humanizationis about concrete choices in history, and only nature: those certainchoicesaretrue to our most fundamental "Humanization the] ontologicalvocation of human being" [is (Freire,1994b, p. 98). Freireusedthis ontologicalanchorto orienthis furtherargumentsto establish ethicalandpoliticalclaimsfora privileged position for the oppressedin the strugglefor liberation.Personal choices represents freedomas expressedin particular only one in a dialecticthat embraces socialaspectof all elements the pole to of the situation,includingthe self."Itwouldbe impossible dehumanizewithout being dehumanized-so deep are the social in rootsof the calling" (Freire,1994b, p. 99; emphasis original). Both liberationand oppressionarehistorical,collectiveactions of classes.Freire's theologicalontology shadesinto the Marxist rethatreinterpreted of Hegel'sanalysis the Master-Slave politics essenceof the oppres(Torres,1994). The inescapable lationship whatis most sorclassis thatit embodiesa wayof life thatdistorts human.7 in an illusionof its own indepenfundamentally Caught the class denceandfreedom, oppressor cannotmakethe required with the concreteeconomic,political,soof and breach critique cial, and ideologicalorders.These ordersactuallypreventboth the oppressor oppressed and classesfrom achievingthe deepest of humanization freedom.On the otherhand, and possibilities the oppressed classfacesdailythe impositions the dehumanizof to of an unjustsociety.By refusing accedeto its subing systems the detreof ordinated positionandworkingto understand raison in its structural classhas an advantage formation,the oppressed to overcomethe limits in the context. interveningstrategically Given the ontologicalcapacityfor intentionallydirectingculturalre-formation towardhumanizingends, liberationstruggle is alwaysa possibleprerogative the oppressed. of Forthe oppressed, individuals as a class,to discernthe as and truth of their nature, identities, and situation requires the of achievement a kind of knowledgethatreaches behindthe way areto graspthe way things came to be. Here we see the things connection between Freire'sontological and epistemological the are arguments. Epistemically, oppressed facedwith the chalof knowing systematically determinately and what is allenge knownexperientially uncritically; is, the oppressed and that ready
must make good senseout of commonsense.8The knowledge that

enablessuch a critiqueof the situation,ideology, and the self, mustincludean understanding the dialectical, of tenpermanent sion betweenconsciousness the world,betweensubjectivity and and objectivity.For Freire,this interplaydoes not undermine or but knowledge certainty, only makesthe demandformethods

tests moreemphaticand makesthe pragmatic of criticalanalysis of knowing more telling. Through focused questioning and (Freire& analysis,the "rigorous, logical, coherent structure" the to neededto warrant knowledge guide Faundez,1992, p. 39) can be achieved,subjectin turn to furtherquestioning. action is Critical consciousness mindfulof the relationships amongconsciousness, action,and world,and graspsthe whyof the world in that of theconstructive nature knowing.Freire argued knowledge that was not a stateof mind nor a type of warranted proposition could be settledin the mannerof a mathematical equation,but the ratherit was a wayofbeingthat reflected deepesthumancaenforproducing culture history.Critical and pacities knowledge embodied folds the knowerand the knownin a dialectical unity It throughthe creative powersof existence. is not somethingthat the or of nor is strictly possession achievement an individual, can it be testedoutsidethe contextof actionsituatedwithin specific cultural historical and horizons(seeFreire,1994b,pp. 100-105). Freire's did epistemology not denythe scientificformof truth or the strengthof its logic for understanding changingrealand but at the sametime it did not givesciencethe lastword.He ity, knowledgeof experience(the arguedthat neitherthe everyday of commonsenseof the masses) the systematic nor knowledge science (the trainedsense of intellectuals) of providesa guarantee eitherformof knowledge, truth.Freire warned against privileging or and whichwouldleadto a kindof"basism" "elitism" wouldobstructtheirunity as required liberatory in action (Freire,1994b, & pp. 84-85; Freire Faundez,1992, pp. 47-48). Further and positions, couplinghis ontological epistemological Freire thatthe conditionsthatpromotefreedomalsoproargued duce the human capacityfor criticalknowledge.He translated these conditionsinto communicative and linguisticmetaphors that prescribed certainmethodsfor the educational dimensions is Centralto thesemetaphors his noof his theoryof liberation. becomesfoundedon dialoguechartion of dialogue. Knowledge focusedaround acterized participatory, by open communication linkedto intentionalactionseeking criticalinquiryand analysis, to reconstruct situation(includingthe self)and to evaluated the The critical consequences. dialoguethatdistinguishes knowledge andcultural actionforfreedomis not somekindof conversation, it is a socialpraxis. be liberatory, must respectthe everyday To it and language,understanding, way of life of the knowers,and it must seek to createsituationsin which they can more deeply expresstheir own hopes and intentions. Dialogue enablesthe to a oppressed "speak trueword"and overcometheir"silencing" or (Freire,1970, 1994a) not simply at the communicative linto levels,but alsoin regard theirformingculture,history, guistic This cultural actionforliberation reveals andtheirown identities. of for the profoundimportance language a people'sbeing,knowand commuing, and capacityto producereality.Deliberative to nicativeactionareintegrated achievethe authentic,uniquely mustread entails.The oppressed humanexistence liberation that in that reveals and knowthe worldand themselves a critical way in the processes historical of formation orderto writetheirfuture, theirprimordial the transcending presentlimits and expressing to realWithout the struggle transform powerof humanization. ity, therecan be neithergenuinecriticalknowledgenor authentic modesof being.

the usedto capture complex is Conscientizationthe termFreire features edof and ethical-political ontological,epistemological, forcultural of ucationas a practice freedom.His analysis placed as andlinguisticpractices centralto mation,knowledge creation, centralto revsituationsand identityand thusalsoas necessarily socialchange.Sincesituationsareperolutionary(or any other) meatedwith definingaxesof powerand authoritythat establish than others,liberaand standards normsin favorof some rather tion entails a people'sstruggleto be, to feel, to know, and to "Themorethe peoplebecomethemselves, speakfor themselves. the betterthe democracy" (Horton & Freire,1990, p. 145). of As people take hold of the indeterminateness historyand of the opennessof the future,theirhopesanddreams a morejust need" life become realizedas the fulfillmentof an "ontological human to meet these primordial (Freire,1994b, p. 8). Striving needs,and wielding"truthas an ethicalqualityof the struggle" the (Freire,1994b, p.8), the politicsof liberationharnesses onfoundationsof existenceto overtologicaland epistemological socialism and build a democratic come the limits of oppression outfit ourthat sustainsdiversecommunities."[W]e,as existent, selves to engage in the strugglein quest of and in defense of by equalityof opportunity, the veryfactthat,aslivingbeings,we differentfromone another" areradically (Freire,1994b, p. 97). Freireunderstoodhow fragileand contingentthis strugglehad the that couldwarrant humanto be, andaccepted no guarantees is of Conscientization thusa modeof isticreinvention citizenship. in of one lifealways theprocess becoming, thatenacts ongoingculof that turalactionfor liberation acceptsan ethicof the "fineness the striving" "ajob to do in history" as 1994b,p. 50). This (Freire, of as ethicindicates the precisely importance education a practice of freedomfor a successful revolutionbecauseit enablesthe onand of culture. goingreinvention recreation democratic for This overview Freire's structure his theory of argumentative of liberationand educationidentified the foundationalinterrelationshipsamong his ontological, epistemological,ethical, Freirearguedthat educationas a practice and politicalanalyses. of freedomis actuallya necessary aspectof being fully human. Without this kind of praxis, humanbeingsceaseto be the "makersof theirway"and they becomesimplywhathistorymakesof them. ForFreire, be humanmeansto makeand remake to one's self throughmakinghistoryand culture,to struggleagainstthe limiting conditions that prevent such creativeaction, and to dreaminto existencea worldwhereeverypersonhas this opportunityand responsibility. Critical Problems in Freire's Theory of Liberation Education Fromthe outsetand continuingtoday,a wide rangeof criticism echoesthe broadchorusof praisefor Freire's theoryof liberation and education.These contrasting commentaries camefrom the Left as well as the Right, from both revolutionary and political In and activists academics. this sectionof this essayI reactionary will outline some of the criticalproblemsin the foundationsof Freire's view,and suggestwaysin which some of his conclusions can be preserved bettersupportedeven if the specificsof his or fail. arguments On the publicationof Pedagogy the Oppressed, libertarone of ian reviewer dismissedit as a "truly book"and claimedthat bad
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in it wasseriously deficient recognizing strengths traditional the of as education, profoundly inadequate a revolutionary theory,and not as good as many other sourcesfor educationalchange in North America(Friedenberg, 1971). Howeverthis sortof shrill and pedanticcriticismwas neitherthe norm nor accurateand fair.Otherearlyreviewers, thoseworkingin the field particularly of adulteducation,foundmoremeritin buildingon the insights that Freireoffered (see Grabowski,1973). Educatorsat every levelmoldedFreire's theoryto theirown needs,and theirdesire to maketheirpractice moreconsistentwith theirmoraland politicalidealsled them to try to applythe theoryevenwithin institutionsstructurally to resistant a liberatory (see,forexpractice ample,Livingston,1986; Shor, 1980, 1987). Freire'sanalyticframeworkthat createdan opposition betweenbanking dialogical and formsof education widelyintergot that could transform classroom pretedas a "method" practices. However,this amountsto a kind of domesticationof Freire's overalltheoryand intent.As Aronowitz(1993) correctly argued in his analysis this depoliticization Freire, of of thetask thisrevolutionary of is critical conpedagogy notto foster in sciousness order improve to the student's cognitive learning, or in to his self-esteem, evento assist hisaspiration fulfill human It of as "potential".... is to theliberation theoppressed historical withinthe framework revolutionary of that subjects objectives Freire's is directed. 11-12) pedagogy (pp. While the liberal methodologicalappropriation Freire's of radicalpedagogypredominated the U.S., at the sametime a in newdomainof educational research theoryemerged was and that articulated variouselementsof Freire's to view. This explicitly emergingtraditionof criticalpedagogyinvestigatedthe practices and curricula schoolsfor theirrelationship dominant of to for 1979, 1982) and for theirpossibilities opideologies(Apple, and the assertionof democratic values(Giroux, 1983, position 1988; Giroux& McLaren,1989). In addition,the criticalpedagogytraditionbecameentwinedwith some strandsof feminist theory (hooks, 1994; Luke & Gore, 1992), though feminists raisedseriousquestionsabout the compatibilityof this linkage 1989; Weiler, 1991). (Ellsworth, circles,Freire's Ironically, despiteits embracein educational theoryappeared at the moment when a profoundrupture just with its underlyinghumanistand Marxistassumptions moved fromthe periphery the coreof intellectual to debatesin the academy and within oppositionalpolitical formations.Questions werebeingdirectedat the foundationsof philosophyand of the humansciences(see,forexample,Foucault,1972, 1973;Geertz, the 1973; Habermas, 1971;Taylor,1971) thatundermine argumentativestructure Freire's of philosophyof praxis.In light of these problematics, Freire'stheory appearsto be insufficiently eventhoughhe placesa historical cultural and historicized, praxis at its core.As we will see, this leadsto a connectedgroupof onthat requiresubstantologicaland epistemological quandaries tially differentresponsesthan Freireprovides.In addition,becauseof the structure his arguments, of these problemsimpact Freire's ethicaland politicalpositionssincehe supports them by ontologicalappealsto human natureand by epistemicclaims In aboutsituations(includingself-understandings). the remainder of this sectionof this essay,these problemswill be outlined
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from a philosophicpoint of view, and preliminary arguments will be suggestedto preserve some measureof Freire's theoreticalapparatus aimsevenif someof his specificarguments and fail. historicism cannotreach First,the logic of Freire's ontological his humanist conclusions. Whilea soundargument conclude can that historicity to (the humancapacity producecultureand history even as cultureand historyproducehuman existence)is a of further claimthathumandefiningfeature humanlife, Freire's izationis an ontological vocationandcalling to be questioned. has to Thoughit maybe metaphysically comforting supposethatonly humanization trueto ourprimordial is nature thatdehumanand izationis only a historical accident,this accountfounders. Logic entailsthatall humanactionmust be consistent with ontological features existence. of thus humanac(De)humanization concerns tions thatcan only be consistent with or in contradiction parto ticular of but conceptions how oneshouldbe not how humansare. Freire of thushasto acceptthathis critique domination emanates froma specifichistorical cultural and locationand mustbe made on the basisof contingentethicaland politicalargumentrather than universal & ontologicalappeals(McLaren Leonard,1994; Weiler, 1991). Fromthe point of view of the logic of ontologyand historicstill ity, personswho dominateor oppressothersarenonetheless human and expressingsome primordialaspects of existence. This possibilitywas at the core of Nietzsche'sarguments about the Super Man as unsurpassed creatorof history and culture (Nietzsche,1990). In that view, moralitywas for the weak,and appealsto a vision of humanizationor to equal opportunity would merelybe for those who lackedthe will and the capacity for exertingtheirpower.While this nihilisticpill is a bitterone, the arguments againsthavingto swallowit areethicaland political.Ontologically, humanbeingsarepurelypossibility, circumscribedby their embodiment in specific situationsand backgroundsof culture,history, and meaning. In some moments, Freireequivocatedas the force of this logic pushed againsthis in generalargumentas summarized the previoussection of this is essay.For example,he noted that humanization "something in constituted history" not "apriori history" in and 1994b, (Freire, assertion an ontologicalprivilegefor huof p. 99). But Freire's manizationas the only possibilityfor an authenticexistencereducesto just the sort of apriorihistorical claimhe recognizes as and to conservative, contradictory the position fundamentalist, he seeks. In the samevein, the logic of the thoroughlyhistoricized existencethat is most consistentwith the coreof Freire's theoryis with the notion of authenticity incompatible impliedwith such conceptsas ontologicalvocationand calling.If humanexistence cannotcompletelyescapefromparticular historical cultural and horizons then any claims of authenticitycannot be universal (Adorno,1973). Idealsof personhoodwill shift with time and placeand therecan be no ultimate"truecore"of what a person is thatis the end productof consciousness-raising. the Moreover, betweenpersonhoodand citizenshipis not neatly relationship solvable insteadendures an existential but as dilemmato be lived 1993). If humanexistence throughwith uncertainty (Margonis, cannot transcendits rootednessin particular situationsto be a universal extendsto puresubjectof history,the loss of certainty the emancipatoryguaranteesFreire hoped for from actions

aimed at overcomingsituationallimits. Freire'sargumentthat humannatureachievesits only authenticcompletionin an onrestson a Hegelianditologicaltelos that ends in humanization alecticthat synthesizesuniversaland particular aspectsof exishis tence (Torres,1994), but this contradicts morefundamental In & claimsabouthistoricity. dialoguewith his critics(McLaren in the Leonard,1994), Freireacknowledged dangers his univerBut of salisticnarrative abouthumanization. the predicament a and addsemmorefullyhistoricized ontologypreserves actually for phasisto the need Freirerecognized liberationeducationto that critical enablea relentlessly analysis demonstrates concretely limit how specificsituations(and self-understandings) the freeand dom of some to be self-defining determining. This demandfor continuouscritiqueextendsto the identity of the oppressed, which is distortedby Freire's universalistic bithat of naryformulations too often assumea unityof experience oppressiondespite differences(Ellsworth,1989; McLaren& Leonard,1994; Weiler, 1991). The theorydoes not adequately are recognizethat race,cass, and genderoppressions gearedto such that specificconcreteconditionsthat can be contradictory, simultaneous and positionsof oppression dominancecan be ocindividuals(for example,someone privicupied by particular leged by racialand classlocation but oppressedby the gender order,as with a White middle-class woman).These broadcatecontested constantly undergoing goriesof identityarethemselves historical revision.In addition,Freire's theory,despiteimputing a certain psychoanalyticintent for conscientization(Freire, 1970, 1994b; Freire& Faundez,1992), failsto accountfor the ways in which identity has no direct or necessaryrelationship eitherto external contexts to inward or and representations knowlaboutidentityare (Taylor,1989). Sincethesecomplexities edge claimsfor an authenticsubject ubiquitousto liberation struggle, fromwhich to challengedominationor oppression are position Liberationbecomesa far more intricateand intimate suspect. theoretical eithermissingfrom matter,and requires approaches Freire's or needingsubstantive perspective development. The problems with the philosophic logicin Freire's ontological in are view, interpretation reflected hisepistemological whichdoes not resolve difficulties historicized the of When arguknowledge. for "methodological and "rightthinking"that yields ing rigor" knowledgein a "higher stage"than "commonsense,"Freiredid the not acknowledge depth of the problemsthus posed for the to constructivist, approach knowledgeformationthat pragmatic he insisted upon (Freire,1998a). Without differentiating the psychologyof knowing,the sociologyof knowledge,and philofor sophic questionsabout the warrants knowledgeclaims (see 1992), Freire's Phillips, position lackedclarity. epistemological He equivocated betweenaccepting radical the indeterminateness of knowledge arguingfor a natural sciencekind of certainty and in parsing raison of He the d'etre the situationof the oppressed. at a timesuncritically assumed correspondence theoryof truth,and of positedthe possibility gettingit rightjustashe positedthe pos2000). He seemedto sibilityof beingan authenticself (Roberts, think that a unitaryform of reasoncould adjudicate amongthe varietyof waysof knowing,and this fallsfarshortof integrating other modes of graspingreality(Harding& Hintikka, 1983). Moreover,if knowledgeis tied to human interests(Habermas, of 1971) andrelations power(Foucault,1972, 1973) thatembed

with and ideologicalcommitments, if cultureitselfis permeated and and structured unanalyzable prereflective patby ideology of ternsof action (Geertz,1973), then explanations oppression the continually the questionof theirvalidity.Similarly, episbeg and temic statusboth of self-knowledge of knowledgeof the self evenfor psychoanalytic by otherspresents profounddifficulties, and practice(Griinbaum,1984), but theseremainunactheory In of by knowledged Freire. otherwords,knowledge the selfand less is the socialworldand theircausalrelations significantly cerfor tain and hasfarless reliable mechanisms testingthanknowlnotoworld,whicharethemselves edgeclaimsaboutthe natural of andthe consequences (Taylor,1971), riouslyunderwarranted relatedepistemicproblemsareseverefor Freire's the theory.

Militant nonviolence preserves Freire's aim to achieve human freedom in a just, democratic society without abandoning the conditional, historicist foundations that his theory requires.
Since oppressionand freedomarefeaturesof self-knowledge andthe humanworldof meanings, history,andculture,then the knowledgewe can have of them is much more contingentand for providesmuch weakerjustification actions.Since for Freire the criticalknowledgeof oppressionwas linked to liberation strugglethat might include violent means and the taking of human life (Freire,1970, 1994b; see also McLaren,2000), the concernfor its warrant not merelya matterof abstract is philoacsophic interest.Just what sorts of constraintson liberatory of tions areimposedby the ontologicalopaqueness identityand This by epistemiclimits and uncertainties? queryis left begging he for the by Freire,thoughit reinforces importance recognized an ongoing criticalquestioningthat refusesto be seducedinto certainties eliminatealltraces doubt.But the questiondethat of mandssome resolutionbecauseFreire's theorysuffersinsofaras it providesno guidancefor evaluating knowledgeclaimsabout selfandtheworld.A thoroughly historicized of philosophy praxis must be committedto an understanding sciencethat recogof nizes the historicalnatureof method, the contingencyof facts and arguments, evolutionary the natureof criteria modesof and and the function of criticaldialogueand vigorous justification, testing of claims and evidence. Such a nonfoundationalview avoidsahistoricuniversalistic that claims,and insteadmaintains

analysisof reality,self, or identitycannotescape any particular horizons.This is not quite blindspotsandhistorical perspectival the "unitaryunderstanding the world"(Friere& Faundez, of 1992, p. 47) allegedby Freire,althoughthe test of truth is not The test or the warrant ontologicalor for farfromhis proposals. claimsbecomesnot solelya matterof logic, theory,or epistemic but method(although thesedo not becomemeaningless) alsobeThis conclusion elevatesthe demandfor an comes pragmatic. with a fullyhistoricized ethicsandpoliticsconsistent philosophy of praxisin orderto providegroundsfor adequate justification for liberatory action. his As summarized Freire derived politicsfromanother earlier, claimedontologicaltelos for human nature,in this casea comof basedon humandifferences, mitmentto equality opportunity socialism. to for thathe thenextrapolated a preference democratic Hobbes But this claim must face otherpossibleinterpretations. (1968), for example,arguedthat humansin a stateof nature,in the full gloryof theirdifferences, werepromptedto a war of all of all,whichwas resolved only by the emergence a domiagainst a nantforceableto subduecompetitors extract commitment and for to fealty.Freire makesanotherontologicalargument his pola that iticswhenhe suggests set of questions propelthe formation of society (Freire,1994b, p. 98). He may be rightthat humans of and sinceall seekto know the "why" the "whither" existence, human societiesseem to offer explanations such questions. for But no suchanthropological evidence(let aloneapriori ontological reasoning) extendsto his furtherclaimthat they seekto anwhom"the swer"infavor ofwhat,against what,forwhom,against culture and society are organized.Although human nature aloneprovidesonly verythin supportfor particular ethicaland positions,thosewho strugglefor liberationandjustice political need not settle for might makingright, nor succumbto either a Machiavellian amoralism a paralyzing or relativism postmodern (on this latter point, see McLaren& Farahmandpur, 2000). Freire's differentargumentation. positionsimplyrequires Therearepossibledirections such an argument could go that would be consistent with a historicist, nonfoundational perspecthatpossiblemoral tive. Forexample,Hampshire (1983) argued of which waysof life areakinto the diversity natural languages, meansthat competingsound and validconceptionsof the good evenin an idealworld.Yet wouldbe endemicto humanexistence as to evenacceptingdiversity fundamental humannature,and a contextof competingvalidconceptionsof the good, Hampshire maintainedthat sufficientminimalconditionsexist for general justice. The atagreementto a thin conception of procedural of notion of dialogue tributes this conceptionareakinto Freire's (e.g., everyvoice must be included)and bringmoraland political judgmentsthemselvesonto the terrainof historicallyconof testedactionrightalongwith understandings the self and the world. Through an argumentof this type, the conditions that and Freireadducedthat favorthe possibilityof self-realization of can the creation culture history and self-determination through be looselylinkedto an ontologicalorigin,thoughmuch moreis needed to warrantspecificethical or politicalpositions.Freire opmay be well justifiedin his politicaland ethicalpreferential can tion for the poor (McLaren, 1999), but therenonetheless be socialism. for no ontological priority this or for democratic
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Reconstructing Freire's Theory: Concluding Reflections The foregoingcritiqueof Freire's theoryfocusedon the philoits ontologicaland epistemologisophic arguments comprising Problems wereidentifiedin the logic of Freire's cal foundations. he because did not go farenoughin reframhistoricist approach elementsthatremained and someof the universalist ahistoric ing from those in his position, and he thus expectedjustifications that foundations theycouldnot provide.In addition,theseproblems undercuthis ethicaland politicalconceptions.However, worthwhiledirections the line of Freire's reasoningestablished conclusions education set up certain and fora theoryof liberation capableof being supportedand developedby otherarguments. This concludingsection of the essayfollowssome of those lines and suggests an ethical and political position, militant nonto violence,thatwouldneedto be central a moreadequate theory of educationas a practiceof freedom.As noted in the introduction, the aim is to retainthe liberatory powerof the critiqueof and while recognizing malleability contrathe dehumanization of and the dictionsof identity,embracing uncertainties varieties in knowledge,and respecting pluralcompellingconthe reason society. ceptionsof the good that can shapea just, democratic the and As Freire maintained, cultural historical praxis always thatis at the heartof beinghumanis unending.We cannottranscendour existenceas "unconcluded, limited,conditioned,historicalbeings"and this limit actuallyprovidesthe "opportunity of setting ourselvesfree"insofaras we join the "politicalstrugof gle for transformation the world" (Freire,1994b, p. 100). this struggle,and it is the core of freeHistoricity bequeaths dom. Culture is a contested domain that providesno escape and to fromthe challenge identifyits "negativities" "positivities" of in orderto constructbulwarks resis(Freire,1994b, p. 107) as well as constructthe groundsfor tance to dehumanization of While thereareno guarantees trueinsight self-determination. into self or the worldto guideliberatory action,and no guarancan tees that the desiredtransformations be achieved,what is certainis that the odds areagainstthosewithout the traditional meansof power.Thus, as one of the tasks a progressive of education, yesterday popular is to seek, means a critical of of themechby today, understanding in anisms social of to the the conflict, further process which weakof nessof theoppressed intoa strength turns capable converting theoppressor's into 1994b, 125) (Freire, strength weakness. p. this, these objectivesare Although Freiredid not acknowledge the strategy militantnonviolence of (Gandhi,1961;King, exactly abhorred violence(see 1963;Sharp,1973).Thoughhe personally Freire seemedto regard nonviolence McLaren, 2000), onlyin tacticaland not strategic terms.He readilyasserted that revolution aboutviolence mightentailviolentmeans,anddeferred questions the oppressed the priorquestionof the unrelenting to violence by of the oppressor (Elias,1994;Freire,1970;McLaren, 2000). Yet, notedthatthe "ethical politicalawareness the fightFreire and of ers is of paramountimportance" the successof liberation for evenwhentheyaremilitary ones (Freire, 1994b,p. 172). struggles Freire failedto seethepossibility the thethat Nonetheless, clearly ory and strategyof militantnonviolenceoffereda way to con-

struct an integrated historicist theory of liberation education that combined consistent ontological, epistemological, ethical, and political positions. Ontological groundlessness and epistemic uncertainty reside within cultural horizons embracing a diversityof moral and political goods, and together generate constraints that substantially weaken the justifications for violence, even for seemingly just causes. Ethical theory and the tradition of common law alike recognize that very stringent tests must be met to warrantkilling, even in self-defense. Similarly, the current outcry about the prevalence of errorsin death penalty cases reflectsthe moral revulsion experienced by people acrossthe political spectrum when those tests are not satisfied.Advocates of just wars (the sort we can assume liberation strugglesto be) face moral hurdles that are exceptionally difficult to surmount in both the decision to wage war and in its conduct (Teichman, 1986; Walzer, 1977). The certitude of death demands that those who take life possess a level of certitude about the situation and the self that is perhaps beyond reach, especially in the case of death on the scale of war. Yet, if Freireis right that the struggle for freedom is the fate of human existence, then ways to fight for one way of life ratherthan another must be found that honor epistemic, moral, and ontological uncertainty of a radical sort. Militant nonviolence preservesFreire'saim to achieve human freedom in a just, democratic society without abandoning the conditional, historicist foundations that his theory requires. Cultural action for liberation wedded to militant nonviolence furnishes an ethical and political framework consistent with a historicized and always partially opaque ontology and a historicized, perspectival epistemology (Glass, 1996). This is a method of radical action unconstrained by meanings and knowledge claims that are historically situated and culturally constructed, and that is suited to a polyvocal discourse giving expression to identities marked by contradictory, multiple, and shifting boundaries. It gives shape and transformative force to struggles within intensively contested contexts without reinscribing violence or reinstantiating discourses and relations of domination. Such an interpretation of cultural action for liberation fortifies the basic principles of a pluralistic democracy, and is also capable of combating armed force, defending territory, and facing up to the real politics of an armed and aggressive world (Boserup & Mack, 1975; Sharp, 1985). The reconstruction of Freire's theory suggested here is consistent with the dialogical practices that he argued were central to education as a practice of freedom, and with the importance he placed on ideological struggle as a leading element in overcoming oppression (Coben, 1998; Mayo, 1999). It provides a political strategy that makes more credible the demand for a permanent struggle for liberation since it preserves to all equally the power to seek self-determined hopes and dreams. The critiques and questions that challenge Freire'sarticulation of a philosophy of praxis cannot diminish the impact Freire's work will continue to have. As science has long demonstrated, imperfect theories do not render action impossible. Freire's insights will endure, and both orient critical pedagogical theory and liberatory educational practice. Freire indeed captured some of the most telling qualities of what it is to be human, and so education as a practice of freedom will remain pivotal for the real-

ization of whatever ideal of the person or of society one imagines. The legacy of Freire's theory, just as its origins, is first and foremost to be found as a lived praxis of liberation in the global, variegated efforts to translate it into every conceivable context. For the contributions of his theory and his life toward the creation of more justice and democracy, a world will continue to mourn the death of Paulo Freire. NOTES deathfor a This paperwasinitiallydraftedimmediately afterFreire's collectionthat nevercame to fruition.Subsequent draftsbenespecial fromthe commentsandcriticisms PiaWong, Frank of fitedenormously Researcher Eduardo Duarte,andthe Educational anonymous Margonis, and for reviewers editors.Responsibility allremaining obscurities, probrestssolelywith me. lems, and errors 1 Wink (2000), and Schneidewind and Davidson(1998), arein second editions,and Derman-Sparks's (1989) is in its 11th printing. 2 Educatingfor by Change Arnoldet al. (1991) had its fifth printing in 1996. 3 The author andPhoenix(AZ)Union High SchoolDistrict,with 12 schoolsand more than 22,000 students,half of whom qualifyfor freeor reduced-price lunchesandan equalnumberof whom havehomelanotherthan English,arecurrently developingsuch a project. guages 4 Freire thatErichFrommwas"deadright"to (1994b, p. 55) reports use this phraseto describe Freire's educational practice. 5 FromPlatoandAristotle in tradiforward the Westernphilosophic in tion, and fromMeng Tzu and ChuangTzu forward the Chinesetrato and theories, dition,theselinkshavebeencentral manyethical political as they arein a wide varietyof religiousdoctrines. just 6 Freire's has effortto distance humansfromotheranimals beenchaland of modesof thoughtthat lengedasspecies-ist reflective the European his in theseconcerns a trenchant cripervade view.Bowers(1983) raised that invatiqueof Freire's assumptions, charging theymaskthe cultural whenit supports in sionof histheory interventions non-Western contexts. 7 Freirenonetheless that individuals from the oppressor recognized classcould commita kind of classsuicideto be rebornand in solidarity with the oppressed (see, for example,Freire,1973, p. 18). Elias(1994) discussedthe religiouslanguageand symbolismthat Freirefrequently to employedin referring this processas an Easter. 8 Freire followsGramsci(1971) in this analysis(see especially Freire & Faundez,1992, and Friere,1998a). For extendeddiscussions the of theoretical connectionsbetweenFreireand Gramsci, Coben (1998) see and Mayo (1999). REFERENCES Evanston: Northwestern Adorno,T. (1973). Thejargon ofauthenticity. Press. University Allman,P., Cavanagh, Hang,C. L., Haddad,S., & Mayo,P. (Eds.). C., issuedevotedto PauloFreire].Convergence, (1998). [Special 31(1/2). A Anyon,J. (1997). Ghetto schooling: politicaleconomy urbaneducaof tionalreform. New York:Teachers CollegePress. M. W. (1979). Ideology curriculum. and Boston:Routledgeand Apple, Paul. Kegan Apple, M. W. (1982). Education andpower. Boston: Routledgeand KeganPaul. Arnold,R, Burke, James, Martin, & Thomas,B. (1991).EduB., D., C., Toronto:Betweenthe Linesand the DorisMarshall catingfor change. Institutefor EducationandAction. radicaldemocratic humanism.In Aronowitz,S. (1993). PauloFreire's P. McLaren& P. Leonard(Eds.), PauloFreire: criticalencounter A (pp. 8-24). London:Routledge.
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