A Vote for Freire: Applying Freirean Principles to Education for Formal Political Participation

• In Event: 46.086 - Roundtable Session 16
  In Roundtable Session: 46.086-12 - Paulo Freire: Philosophy and Pedagogy, Critique and Possibilities

Abstract

Abstract: This theoretical paper examines the work of critical adult educator Paulo Freire in relation to contemporary efforts to educate for formal political participation. In particular, it considers the radical roots of Freirian thought, and seeks coherence between these Marxian underpinnings and related endorsements of conventional forms of political participation (e.g. voting). Drawing from Paula Allman, the author considers Freire's treatment of electoral engagement in four of his most seminal texts: Pedagogy of Freedom, Pedagogy of the Heart , The Politics of Education, and Pedagogy of the Oppressed. While acknowledging Freire's at times explicit denunciations of electoral politics (and, above all, of clientelism masquerading as democracy) the paper argues that Freire ultimately accepted formal political participation as a meaningful avenue for achieving positive social change. In particular, it cites Freire's references to the fact that his own literacy work with Brazilian peasants was at least partly motivated by resistance to draconian legislation prohibiting "illiterates" from voting, and recalls the nature of the educator's own engagement with electoral politics as secretary of education in São Paulo. The paper concludes by asking how educators applying Freirian principles to their pedagogical work in pursuit of increased electoral participation can do so in a way that combats the capacity of liberal democracy to be a force for alienation in the Marxist sense—whereby citizens alienate their political power from themselves through the mechanism of the vote. With citizenship education an ever growing area of scholarship, critical analyses of current applications of the work of such pioneering educators as Paulo Freire are crucial. Alongside the other papers in this session, this research therefore seeks to facilitate the ongoing development of a coherent praxis of educating from Freire in a historical context of neo-liberalism a liberal democratic citizenship.

Author

• Chloe Shantz-Hilkes, University of Toronto - OISE