Using a Critical Lens

• In Event: Critical Leadership Perspectives May Enable New, More Equitable Educational Futures

Abstract

Part A. What is a Critical Perspective?
What does it truly mean to have a critical perspective, and why does it matter? These movements and schools of thought have contributed greatly to counter-hegemonic movements, bestowing upon many the ability to identify, interrogate, and challenge oppressive systems. Although critical thought possesses transformative potential, being critical can also exacerbate existing divisions by driving groups with differing viewpoints further apart.
Following Freire (1993/1970), “Dialogue cannot exist, however, in the absence of a profound love for the world and for people” (p. 89). Thus, critical perspectives identify oppositional thoughts as worthy of engagement. A critical perspective is the active process of “looking again,” ensuring that our critique is not informed by a singular or recurring viewpoint but instead by the interplay of interconnected perspectives. With Said (1994), we seek to explore contrapuntal perspectives in Said’s sense of co-existence and to expand how we employ critical perspectives as a means to rectify otherwise incommensurable positions. Critical perspectives embrace the challenge of valuing difference without domination in an increasingly polarizing world in search of co-existing with, rather than annihilating, the other.
Part B. Interrogating the Rhetoric of Social Justice
Our chapter critically interrogates the rhetoric of social justice, exposing the dissonance between its theoretical ideals and its selective, often complicit, application—particularly in conflict zones like Palestine. Building on the arguments of Arar, Guajardo, and Bogotch (2023), it argues that genuine social justice must be rooted in dismantling systemic oppression rather than serving as an abstract academic exercise. Abdel Wahab Elmessiri (2001) critiques neoliberal academia for prioritizing theoretical discourse over confronting real-world injustice, while Leah Mayblin’s Asylum After Empire (2017) reveals how colonial legacies shape contemporary policies, often deploying the language of justice to obscure ongoing oppression.
Through a critical lens, we expose the limitations of mainstream social justice rhetoric, particularly in the Palestinian context, where Western-backed colonial violence has led to epistemic erasure, genocide, educide, and the suppression of Palestinian identity. We underscore the urgency of decolonizing social justice frameworks and call for an actionable, anti-colonial approach that moves beyond performative solidarity to confront structural oppression. Challenging the complicity of global academia, the chapter demands the amplification of marginalized voices and the reimagining of social justice as a practice rooted in accountability, resistance, and the unwavering defense of the right to education.

Authors

• Zeus Leonardo, University of California - Berkeley

• Jonathan Desmon Russell Pérez, The School of The New York Times

• Khalid Husny Arar, Texas State University