Pedagogy of the Oppressed

This is not light reading. The prose is very theoretical.

In short this work is a dissection on the ideology of the oppressed. People are oppressed for a number of reasons. The first of these is wealth. Those who do not possess great wealth by default risk being oppressed. They have little power. Money moves people. Without money, one is confined to living day to day. Their future is uncertain, in turn affording them little freedom when making demands.

The second "oppressive" factor is education (or lack thereof). Ignorance is breeding ground for oppression. The oppressor (who is generally well educated) takes advantage of the oppressed' lack of knowledge, using this as a way to meet their own desire. For example, I could eat hamburgers everyday of my life thinking they offered me nutritional value because Mcdonald's claimed to use "organic" ingredients.

People are also oppressed because of race or gender. History has afforded them only minor gains in terms of dignity and self worth. These people are oppressed simply because society was set up to maintain an oppressive power structure.

Freire bases his thoughts on a hearty idealism rather than hardened experience. By his own admission he has never been to places he speaks out against.

He also speaks very highly of "radicals." Radicals he concludes are "pure" and "committed to human liberation." Sectarians on the other hand are "blinded by irrationality." Sectarians naturally polarize since their agendas are both abundant and superfluous. Radicals on the other hand are focused only in elevating human beings to a status worthy of dignity and pride.

Given Freire's clear bias and subjectivity, I know this reading will be tough. I am committed however to absorbing his knowledge, no matter how theoretical it proves to be.