Anti-Fascism and the Social Context of Education

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session 3
  In Roundtable Session: Collective Politics and Social Contexts of Education

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to introduce an anti-fascist framework as a means to broaden the social context of educational discourse. Critical theory and critical race theory inform the paper. Descriptive research was used to describe the phenomena of anti-fascism and its relation to anarchism. Among the results is how anarchism is most evident in the praxis of how anti-fascists organize themselves and take action. In addition to the self-defense orientation of anti-fascism, the discrete traits of anti-fascism were identified: anti-authoritarianism, non-hierarchical, direct democracy, emancipation of oppressed populations, equity, and democratic socialism. Critically-minded educators can bridge the gap with community-based anti-fascists and develop curricular approaches as what it means to be everyday anti-fascists inside the educational establishment.

Author

• Michael Vavrus, Evergreen State College