On Wednesday 29th May 2024, from 7.30-9.30pm, Stroud Radical Reading Group will host a discussion of Pedagogy of the Oppressed. We will meet at 10 John St, GL5 2AH. Below you can find links to a free copy of the book as a pdf, to buy a physical copy of the book at a discount, information about the venue and more.

This book argues that the perceived passivity of the poor is the direct result of economic, social and political domination. It suggests that in some countries the oppressors use the ‘piggy bank’ system – treating students as passive, empty vessels – to preserve their authority and maintain a culture of silence. Through cooperation and dialogue, Freire suggests, the authoritarian teacher-pupil model can be replaced with critical thinking so that the student becomes co-creator of knowledge. Crucial to Freire’s argument is the belief that every human being, no matter how impoverished or illiterate, can develop an awareness of self, and the right to be heard.

You can buy the book from the Yellow Lighted Bookshop (Nailsworth, Tetbury or Chalford pick up or delivery at £3.50) via the previous link – RRP £9.99. When looking at your “basket” enter the “couponcode” stroudradical24 for a 12% discount – final book price £8.79, a saving of £1.20).

About our events and the venue

Stroud Radical Reading Group events are free to attend, though we will make a collection to cover costs – please bring some cash. Anyone is welcome to listen to the discussion, though we encourage contributions only from those who have read at least some of the book we are discussing. We try to create a comfortable discussion space for everyone, including people who have not been part of a reading group or been to university.

We will meet at 10 John St, GL5 2AH. This is near the centre of town, a short walk from Stroud Railway Station and a slightly longer walk from the Merrywalks Bus Station. There are stands to lock bikes to outside, and parking for cars nearby in either Brunel Mall, Fawkes Place, or Church St car park. There is a low step to enter the building, which is flat. There are no toilet facilities. Please get in touch if you’d like to get more of an idea of what the sessions are like or if you have any accessibility needs.

About the book and author

Paulo Reglus Neves Freire (19 September 1921 – 2 May 1997) was a Brazilian educator and philosopher who was a leading advocate of critical pedagogy. His influential work Pedagogy of the Oppressed is generally considered one of the foundational texts of the critical pedagogy movement, and was the third most cited book in the social sciences as of 2016 according to Google Scholar. Freire joined the Workers’ Party (PT) in São Paulo and acted as a supervisor for its adult literacy project from 1980 to 1986. When the Workers’ Party won the 1988 São Paulo mayoral elections in 1988, Freire was appointed municipal Secretary of Education.

Freire wrote Pedagogy of the Oppressed between 1967 and 1968, while living in the United States. Originally written in his native Portuguese, Pedagogy of the Oppressed was first published in Spanish in 1968

Due to the 1964 Brazilian coup d’état, where a military dictatorship was put in place with the support of the United States, Paulo Freire was exiled from his home country, an exile that lasted 16 years. After a brief stay in Bolivia, he moved to Chile in November 1964 and stayed until April 1969 when he accepted a temporary position at Harvard University. His four-and-a-half year stay in Chile impacted him intellectually, pedagogically, and ideologically, and contributed significantly to the theory and analysis he presents in Pedagogy of the Oppressed. In Freire’s own words:

When I wrote [Pedagogy of the Oppressed] I was already completely convinced of the problem of social classes. In addition, I wrote this book on the basis of my extensive experience with peasants in Chile; being absolutely convinced of the process of ideological hegemony and what that meant. When I would hear the peasants speaking, I experienced the whole problem of the mechanism of domination (which I analyze in the first chapter of the book)…Certainly, in my earliest writings I did not make this explicit, because I did not perceive it yet as such…[Pedagogy of the Oppressed] is also completely situated in a historical reality.

Free resources:

• Full book available free as a pdf (from libcom.org)
• Full audiobook available free on YouTube
• 8 minute video of Paulo Freire’s last public interview, given to Literacy.org in 1996 (embedded below)
• 90 minute video of discussion of the book’s impact and relevance to education today, featuring Noam Chomsky, Howard Gardner, and Bruno della Chiesa, commemorating the 45th anniversary of the publication (embedded below)