The Man With the Revolutionary Pedagogy: McLaren's Contributions to Marxist Educational Theory

• In Event: The Peter McLaren Reader: Reflecting on Three Decades of Critical Pedagogy

Abstract

The objective of this presentation is to discuss how Peter McLaren has built a new approach to Marxist educational theory (McLaren, 2000; 2005; 2015) thereby both contributing to, and transcending the limitations of earlier manifestations of Marxist educational theory (Bowles & Gintis, 1976; Katz, 1975, 1987; Liston, 1990; Sarup, 1978, 1982; Strike, 1989). For example, the advancements made by Bowles and Gintis (1976) will be discussed in the context of the ways McLaren has taken Marxist educational theory to new heights paving the way for new critical educators to continue to push the field forward.

The theoretical framework explored in this paper is grounded in McLaren’s unique approach to Marxist Humanism. Paramount to McLaren’s approach here is Marx’s (1844/ 1988) interpretation or correction of Hegel’s concept of the negation of the negation, which implies the complete negation or transcendence of a real, concrete social system, such as capitalism, and the simultaneous emergence and movement toward a new, more socially just basis of human sociability. Breaking from the utopian socialism of earlier versions of Marxist theory in education, McLaren revisits Marx who was specifically interested in how specific concrete material conditions, after reaching a certain stage of development, might give way to qualitative shifts. McLaren places this shift from capitalism to socialism as a central concern of his revolutionary pedagogy.

McLaren therefore challenges critical pedagogy to reconsider the relevance of Marx and how a revolutionary education might intervene to facilitate the process of becoming socialist. McLaren places this purpose of a Marxist critical pedagogy at the center of his project. This paper therefore sets out to demonstrate how McLaren’s critical pedagogy is attuned to the dialectical forces of contradiction that have the potential to lead to a post-capitalist society. Because this post capitalist society is not inevitable or predetermined, the socialization function of education remains a highly contested terrain and McLaren’s Marxist critical pedagogy is indispensible.

The method employed for reaching the conclusions outlined in this presentation involved a rigorous review of the related literature centering on Marxism and education (Agostinone-Wilson, 2010; Allman, 2001; Bale and Knopp, 2012; Bowles & Gintis, 1976; Carpenter and Mojab, 2011; Cole, 2008; Green, Rikowski, and Raduntz, 2007; Katz, 1975, 1987; Kumar, 2012; Liston, 1990; McLaren, 2000, 2005, 2015; Sarup, 1978, 1982; Small, 2005; Strike, 1989). After a thorough review of the literature, this study has found that McLaren has pushed Marxist educational theory to consider more deeply the ways in which the social universe of capital conditions subjectivity and limits human agency inside and outside of education while simultaneously is met with new forms of anti-capitalist and anti-racist resistance such as the deeply class-conscious Black Lives Matter movement. Consequently, McLaren avoids the error of economic determinism that often results from abandoning Marx’s corrected Hegelian dialectics and notion of becoming. The purpose of this paper is therefore to demonstrate that McLaren’s Marxist contributions to critical pedagogy have and continue to advance the field considerably.

Author

• Curry Stephenson Malott, West Chester University of Pennsylvania