Critical Pedagogy in dark times de Henry Giroux. Obert, G. y Eliggi. G. (Translator)

Abstract

Across the globe, the forces of neoliber­alism, or what might be called the latest stage of predatory capitalism, are on the march dismantling the historically guar­anteed social provisions provided by the welfare state. This is all the more reason for educators and others to address im­portant social issues and to defend public and higher education as democratic pub­lic spheres; educators need a new political and pedagogical language for addressing the changing contexts and issues develop­ing forms of critical pedagogy capable of challenging neoliberalism and other anti-democratic traditions. This paper presents the notion of teachers as public intellec­tuals, pedagogy and the project of insur­rectional democracy, pedagogy and the politics of responsibility, and finally, ped­agogy as a form of resistance and educated hope. Educated hope provides the basis for dignifying our labor as intellectuals; it offers up critical knowledge linked to democratic social change, it is rooted in shared responsibilities, and allows teach­ers and students to recognize ambivalence and uncertainty as fundamental dimen­sions of learning. Such hope offers the possibility of thinking beyond the giv­en—and lays open a pedagogical terrain in which teachers and students can en­gage in critique, dialogue, and a struggle for social justice.