Alongside Paulo Freire, Henry A. Giroux is widely considered to be the
founding father of critical pedagogy. This classic work represents his
best writing on critical pedagogy spanning the past 40 years. The 2nd
edition includes four new chapters covering the rise of fascist culture
in America and across the globe and the dictatorship of ignorance in the
age of Trump and post-truth.
This impassioned work opens by discussing critical pedagogy in schools
before extending the notion to the educational force of culture,
politics, and society. Giroux analyses the increasingly empirical
orientation of teaching, focusing on the culture of positivism and
examines some of the major economic, social, and political forces
undermining the promise of democratic schooling in both public and
higher education. He argues against the tendency by both right wing and
neo-liberal interests to reduce schooling to training, and students
merely to customers. He points to the increasing attack on pubic and
higher education by right-wing populists and the Trump administration in
an age of growing authoritarianism. Giroux also considers the legacy of
Freire and issues a fundamental challenge to educators, public
intellectuals, and others who believe in the promise of radical
democracy.
