Bringing Social Change And Social Justice
The central idea of Freire’s “Pedagogy of the Oppressed” is centrally based on the dehumanisation that vulnerable communities are made to face. Thus, what Freire’s states is that the oppressive communities should be led ensuring they believe that permanent solutions can be made which can lead to their liberated. The ways as to how the oppressed are dehumanised should be focused on. For instance, cultural stigma is one thing because of which causes devaluation of the self. Additionally, lack of access to important resources are denied which also acts as barrier to attain social mobility. This is the first step of the dehumanisation process that they undergo. In fact, the cultural stigma transcends to a point through socialisations where the self confidence and pride of the oppressed communities are crushed whereby, they internalise the oppressive behaviour of the colonisers and they accept the same as well. This is the process whereby they believe that they are lesser humans such is the intensity of the oppression that they are subjected to. Here the oppressor also plays a very important role, they subjugate constantly in order to maintain the superiority. This in return helps them to retain their position and control over the oppressed. This has two consequences when first that the colonisers continue to enjoy their control and power and secondly, they are able to crush the self esteem of the individuals whereby they lose the zeal to fight back and give in to the total subjugation. In this process, the oppressed often fails to retaliate against the oppression that they face, which completely strips them off their sense of self work hereby dehumanising them. However, the poignant point that the author makes is the fact that the oppressed should see this as a point through which they should seek to transform their lives. Their oppression should bolster them to fight against the oppressive forces of the colonisers which is the only way through which they can bring in change and liberation. In this context, another important point that needs to be mentioned is the fact that both the oppressed and the oppressed loses their sense of self. While the oppressed are subjugated, dominated and that in this process they lose the sense of self, the oppressor through the inhuman forms of torture also loses their humanity and their dignity. Thus, in case of complete liberation it is of utmost importance that both these people are liberated of one’s subjugation and the others inhumanity. This is the core that everyone who seeks to bring in change should be focussed on, generosity, charity is reactionary and momentary. And thus, in order to bring in change it is very essential that change is approached from a fundamental point of view. Likewise, while the oppressed are dealt with, it is very essential to work with the oppressor as well in order to address the problems from its roots (Freire 2020).
Secondly, this theory of Freire’s is very important because it has the potential to act as a guiding principle for social workers and activists to bring in social justice as well as social change. One of the biggest learnings from Freire is the fact that he argues that it is of utmost importance to bring in change from within rather than changing the system. While the system has a lot of critical factors associated with this, working in order to change the inner self is a radical step. When the core is addressed then the fundamental issues associated are dealt with effectively. Important questions need to be asked, to attack concepts like powerlessness, exploitation of the minority, dominant ideology must be identified (Ko 2020). This is the process through which people can be tied together in order to take collective action. Along with this, it is also very important to note that without reactionary steps it is vital that education is furthered. It is essential to educate people who are being oppressed and the oppressor as well because the dominant forces should also be included in the conversation as to how this is also affecting them to a great extent. When it comes to education as well, it is very important that the dominant pedagogies are rejected and rewritten which is the only way through which critical consciousness as well as dialogical action can be taken (Muhammad 2017).
Along with this, it is also very vital to take into consideration the fact the change makers, social workers as well as the activists should have a very strong belief system. They should have faith that no matter what the circumstances are there is no end. Any kind of conversation about social change should be large scale because at the macro level hardly anything can be achieved. With this it is vital that those in the progressive circles should talk to those in the system who knowingly are in it and who continue to trust the empty promises. And in order to achieve the same, empathy is required most essentially than fuelling people with anger or fear (Ko 2020). Empathy here is the key because in social change it is people’s emotions that is at stake and hence it is effective and long lasting something which has the power to bring in fundamental change in the oppressor and the oppressed. Finally, it is crucial to know and see social change as a learning process where being reflective is of utmost importance which can subvert status-quo as well. In practice grassroot collective action as well as alternative knowledge and the understanding of the cycle of oppression is crucial to bring in any social change (Falzon 2019).
References
Falzon, J., 2019. ‘If Australians want a fairer society, we must unite to protect one another’ by. The Guardian, [online] Available at: <https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/jul/04/empathy-is-more-useful-than-fear-in-the-fight-for-progress> [Accessed 14 August 2022].
Freire, P., 2020. Pedagogy of the oppressed. In Toward a Sociology of Education (pp. 374-386). Routledge.
Ko, AJ 2020. Paulo Freire’s “Pedagogy of the Oppressed”: a manifesto on education and social change. https://medium.com/bits-and-behavior/paulo-freires-pedagogy-ofthe-oppressed-a-manifesto-on-education-and-socialchange-dbd63cd9fc17
Muhammad, U., 2017. Confronting injustice: social activism in the age of individualism, Haymarket Books.
