The Bolivian Marxist René Zavaleta (1937-1984) is considered Bolivia's most notable political thinker of the 20th century, an eminent figure in Latin American Marxism, since he produced critical thought anchored in the concrete history of our societies, and developed a set of theoretical and conceptual approaches relevant to understanding the…

This article explores how Third Way policies have weakened class consciousness in education and how a Marxist model of education offers a powerful alternative to this weakening. By blending neoliberal approaches with social democracy, the Third Way promotes individualistic and market-oriented reforms in education, which have been found to deepen…

This essay offers a new interpretation of Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri's landmark work of critical social theory "Empire." It develops an account of the politics of exile by situating this political strategy in terms of Hardt and Negri's claim that it is no longer feasible to confront capitalist power head-on. It attends closely to…

This paper is an attempt to connect the Brazilian Paulo Freire's well known educational thinking with the "philosophy for children" movement. It considers the relationship between the creator of philosophy for children (P4C), Matthew Lipman and Freire through different attempts to establish a relationship between these two educators. The…

The process of teaching and learning is not merely a question of transmitting a received cultural legacy but also of its transformation. Education is inseparable from life and from any socio-political model we wish to build and defend. This implies the impossibility of separating education from politics. Hence we must attempt to provide future…

The global Occupy! actions gave some pause for thought. At first, some thought that this was a global movement that could change the way politics was conducted and maybe see the end of capitalism as we knew it. The hopes for Occupy! were high, but the highest hopes for the movement were short lived. This paper examines Occupy!'s legacy; what…

Ghettos are a social evil. They are social atrocities maintained by inexcusable racist laws and practices, structures of class domination, and institutionalized political marginalization. After "Brown v. The Board of Education," educational reformers have increasingly (mis)framed the problem of "ghetto schools" as a failure to…

In this article, the author examines the growth of the current strain of fundamentalism that is influencing rural schools in the United States, and how it is, according to him, creating a self-sustaining pipeline of fundamentalists into positions of power. The author details the type of anti-public and anti-democratic education being expressed…

Often when philosophers of education address the issue of civic education, they focus on the characteristics individuals should possess to participate in the preexisting democracy; these skills include the ability to listen carefully, reasonably reflect and weigh evidence, articulate one's demands and concerns in the public sphere, and so…

Why does a divide exist between scholars of critical education and teachers unions and how might it be bridged to develop a more robust, mutually beneficial relationship? In this article I explain why supporters of critical education have a huge stake in the transformation and regeneration teachers unions and describe how critical education might,…

In this response to "The Political Nuances of Narratives and an Urban Educator's Response," the authors applaud Pearman's critical approach to deconstructing and challenging narratives of heroic figures who single-handedly change the world and agree with him that these narratives restrict the sense of agency that may propel citizens to…

A fundamental goal of the university must be to advance a democracy based on the socialist principles of freedom and critique. A Marxist revolutionary critical pedagogy for democracy is advanced that includes a call for the inclusion of faculty of color who may bring diverse epistemes toward doing research that promotes dissent. The author…

This essay is a critical humanist discussion of curriculum; a departure from the technicist view of education [education meant to support a global capitalist economy] and an analysis of curriculum considering critical humanism, political economy and critical race theory among other modes of critical analysis and inquiry. Our discussion supports a…

Against the menacing shadow of neoliberalism, which promotes individualism and competition, the author illustrates in this paper the need for group teaching. Group teaching as a method of instruction and learning fosters community bonds, solidarity, and is more effective teaching. Group teaching is a democratic tool necessary for society to…

In the shadow of triumphalist and hubristic capitalism, many adherents to critical pedagogy promote "democracy" as a kind of anti-capitalist challenge to inequality, oppression and exploitation. However, American culture has gone global, immersing the world in the received wisdom of a variety of liberalisms or in the reaction formations of…