View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Universidad Nacional de La Pampa: Portal de Revistas... Critical Pedagogy in dark times Henry GIROux* Resumen Critical Pedagogy in dark times En todo el mundo, las fuerzas del neoli- Abstract beralismo, o lo que podría denominarse Across the globe, the forces of neoliber- la última fase del capitalismo depreda- alism, or what might be called the latest dor, van por el camino de desmantelar stage of predatory capitalism, are on the los beneficios sociales garantizados histó- march dismantling the historically guar- ricamente y otorgados por el estado be- anteed social provisions provided by the nefactor. Esta es una razón de peso para welfare state. This is all the more reason que los educadores y otros aborden cues- for educators and others to address im- tiones sociales importantes y defiendan portant social issues and to defend public la educación pública y superior como and higher education as democratic pub- esferas públicas democráticas; necesitan lic spheres; educators need a new political un nuevo lenguaje político y pedagógico and pedagogical language for addressing para abordar los cambiantes contextos y the changing contexts and issues develop- cuestiones y desarrollar formas de peda- ing forms of critical pedagogy capable of gogía crítica capaces de desafiar al neo- challenging neoliberalism and other anti- liberalismo y a otras tradiciones antide- democratic traditions. This paper presents mocráticas. Se abordan en este artículo la the notion of teachers as public intellec- noción de los docentes como intelectua- tuals, pedagogy and the project of insur- les públicos, la pedagogía y el proyecto rectional democracy, pedagogy and the Detalle obra sin título de democracia en rebelión, la pedagogía politics of responsibility, and finally, ped- Dini Calderón y la política de la responsabilidad, y final- agogy as a form of resistance and educated mente la pedagogía como una forma de hope. Educated hope provides the basis resistencia y esperanza educada. La espe- for dignifying our labor as intellectuals; ranza educada es la base para dignificar it offers up critical knowledge linked to nuestra labor como intelectuales; ofrece democratic social change, it is rooted in el conocimiento crítico ligado a un cam- shared responsibilities, and allows teach- bio social democrático, está arraigada en ers and students to recognize ambivalence responsabilidades compartidas y permi- and uncertainty as fundamental dimen- te a docentes y estudiantes reconocer la sions of learning. Such hope offers the ambivalencia y la incertidumbre como possibility of thinking beyond the giv- dimensiones fundamentales del aprendi- en—and lays open a pedagogical terrain zaje. Esta esperanza ofrece la posibilidad in which teachers and students can en- de pensar más allá de lo dado – y deja gage in critique, dialogue, and a struggle abierto un terreno pedagógico en el cual for social justice. docentes y estudiantes pueden compro- meterse en la crítica, el diálogo y una lu- cha por la justicia social. Palabras clave: pedagogía crítica, democra- Key words: critical pedagogy, democracy, cia, responsabilidad, esperanza educada. responsibility, educated hope. Introduction (*) Global Television Network Chair. Eng- lish and Cultural Studies, McMaster University, Chester New Hall, cross the globe, the forces of neoliberalism, or what might Room 229, 1280 Main Street be called the latest stage of predatory capitalism, are on the West Hamilton, Ontario, Canada A L8S 4L9 march dismantling the historically guaranteed social provisions Columnist for Truthout.org provided by the welfare state, defining profit making as the essence Phone: 905 525 9140, Ext. 26551 of democracy, increasing the role of corporate money in politics, Fax: 905-777-8316 Web site: http://henryagiroux.com/ waging an assault on unions, expanding the military-security state, Regular contributor: www.truthout.org [email protected] promoting widening inequalities in wealth and income, fostering the erosion of civil liberties, and undercutting public faith in the ISSN 2313-934X Facultad de Ciencias Humanas http://www.fchst.unlpam.edu.ar/ojs/index.php/praxis/Vol. XVII, Nº 2 27 (julio - diciembre 2013) UNLPam Vol. XVII, Nº 2, pp. 27-3822-28 Henry GIROux defining institutions of democracy1. As market nizing principle for developing society and the mentalities and moralities tighten their grip on economy6. all aspects of society, democratic institutions and Given this current crisis, educators need a public spheres are being downsized, if not alto- new political and pedagogical language for ad- gether disappearing. As these institutions vanish dressing the changing contexts and issues fac- –from public schools to health care centers– there ing a world in which capital draws upon an un- is also a serious erosion of the discourses of com- precedented convergence of resources–financial, munity, justice, equality, public values, and the cultural, political, economic, scientific, military, common good. and technological–to exercise powerful and di- We increasingly live in societies based on the verse forms of control. If educators and others are vocabulary of ‘choice’ and a denial of reality – a to counter global capitalism’s increased ability to denial of massive inequality, social disparities, the separate the traditional sphere of politics from irresponsible concentration of power in relative- the now transnational reach of power, it is cru- ly few hands, and a growing machinery of social cial to develop educational approaches that reject death and culture of cruelty2. As power becomes a collapse of the distinction between market lib- global and is removed from local and nation- erties and civil liberties, a market economy and based politics, more and more individuals and a market society. This suggests developing forms groups are being defined by a free floating class of critical pedagogy capable of challenging neo- of ultra-rich and corporate power brokers as dis- liberalism and other anti-democratic traditions posable, redundant, and irrelevant. Consequent- including the increasing criminalization of so- ly, there is a growing number of people, especially cial problems such as homelessness, while resur- young people, who increasingly inhabit zones of recting a radical democratic project that provides hardship, suffering, and terminal exclusion. the basis for imagining a life beyond the “dream world” of capitalism. Under such circumstances, This is all the more reason for educators and education becomes more than high stakes test- others to address important social issues and to ing, an obsession with accountability schemes, an defend public and higher education as democrat- audit culture, zero tolerance policies, and a site ic public spheres. We live in a world in which for simply training students for the workforce. everything is now privatized, transformed into At stake here is recognizing the power of educa- “spectacular spaces of consumption,” and subject tion in creating the formative culture necessary to the vicissitudes of the military-security state3. to both challenge the various threats being mobi- One consequence is the emergence of what the lized against the very idea of justice and democ- late Tony Judt called an “eviscerated society”— racy while also fighting for those public spheres, “one that is stripped of the thick mesh of mutual ideals, values, and policies that offer alternative obligations and social responsibilities to be found modes of identity, social relations, and politics. 4 in” any viable democracy . This grim reality has In both conservative and progressive dis- been called a “failed sociality”-- a failure in the courses pedagogy is often treated simply as a set power of the civic imagination, political will, and of strategies and skills to use in order to teach 5 open democracy . It is also part of a politics that prespecified subject matter. In this context, ped- strips the social of any democratic ideals. agogy becomes synonymous with teaching as The ideological script is now familiar: there is a technique or the practice of a craft-like skill. no such thing as the common good; market val- Any viable notion of critical pedagogy must re- ues become the template for shaping all aspects ject this definition and its endless slavish imi- of society; the free possessive individual has no tations even when they are claimed as part of a obligations to anything beyond his or her self- radical discourse or project. In opposition to the interest; market fundamentalism trumps demo- instrumental reduction of pedagogy to a meth- cratic values; the government, and particularly od—which has no language for relating the self the welfare state, are the arch enemies of freedom; to public life, social responsibility or the demands private interests negate public values; consumer- of citizenship--critical pedagogy illuminates the ism becomes the only obligation of citizenship; relationships among knowledge, authority, and law and order is the new language for mobiliz- power7. For instance, it raises questions regard- ing shared fears rather than shared responsibil- ing who has control over the conditions for the ities and war becomes the all-embracing orga- production of knowledge. Is the production of Vol. XVII, Nº 2 Facultad de Ciencias Humanas ISSN 2313-934X 28 pp. 27-38 UNLPam (julio - diciembre 2013) Critical Pedagogy in dark times knowledge and curricula in the hands of teach- Cornelius