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Knowledge is the foundation of a civilization. Civilization is an organized order in which people coexist by sharing common laws, beliefs, and customs. It is regarded as the advanced stage in human social development and it is upheld by a combination of elements. These elements include but are not limited to education, language, and the unspoken agreement between participants and its administrators. Using the works of Freire, Jordan, and Mills, this paper will explore the function of knowledge production in civilization, and how administrators wield it as a tool to maintain the status quo and preserve the hierarchical order of social, political, and economic systems.
By having this role of maintaining the status quo and preserving the power structure of a civilization, the production of knowledge simultaneously becomes the driving force of the cycle of oppression. Oppression, both a historical and political concept, is brought on by the establishment of a civilization and is carried on within that establishment. While criticizing the idea of objective knowledge, Freire, Jordan, and Mills each come up with their own revolutionary solution to tearing down the system of oppression and inaugurating a new age of liberation. Freire addresses a new style of education as a means to reform the system while Jordan puts forth the question of whether or not we must replace “the passive voice from our democracy… with our own mighty and conflicting voices” in order to transcend the system of oppression (Jordan 232). Mills, on the other hand, suggests we acknowledge our ignorance and consent to misrepresentation, which has only perpetuated the system of oppression. Although all three educational thinkers pinpoint crucial tools that ar...
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...of oppression. In order to free ourselves from this cycle, we must alter the very tools used by the powerful to perpetuate the system of oppression. Out of all the factors that contribute to the maintenance of oppression, Education plays the most extensive role in preserving a hierarchical order. This is because education is the vehicle by which knowledge is produced and attained. Freire’s “co-intentional” education would contribute to the struggle for liberation the most out of all other factors.
Works Cited
Freire, Paulo. Pedagogy of the Oppressed. Trans. Myra Bergman Ramos. New York:
Continuum, 2000. Print
Jordan, June. "Problems of Language in a Democratic State." Some of Us Did Not Die: New and
Selected Essays of June Jordan. [U.S.]: Basic/Civitas, 2002. 223-32. Print.
Mills, Charles W. The Racial Contract. Ithaca: Cornell UP, 1997. Print.
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THE WAYS OF MEETING OPPRESSION IS AN ESSAY WRITTEN BY MARTIN LUTHER KING JR., ADDRESSING SEGREGATION THAT IS SPECIFICALLY DIRECTED TOWARD THE AFRICAN AMERICAN AUDIENCE. King’s primary audience is the African Americans, but also he has secondary audiences that he addresses, which are a combination of Christians or those who know of, or believe in the Christian views, as well as people in the legal system. He gives examples through his text that will demonstrate how he addresses mostly the African Americans, but also the various other audiences he is trying to reach to through his memorable speech. In his writing, he tells of three ways that they deal with oppression, and based on these he sends out a message to all who have read or heard his words. This message states what has been done in the past, as well as what should be done based on these past experiences. King chooses to speak to certain people through certain contexts and key phrases. In choosing certain phrases and also on how he states his words, he is successful in influencing all his audiences that he intended to persuade. The words that he carefully chose will tell how and why he wanted to focus on the primary and secondary audiences of his choice.
Freire, P. (1970). Pedagogy of the oppressed. (30 ed.). New York: The Continuum International Publishing Group Inc.
Hooks, Bell. "Chapter 1 Engaged Pedagogy." Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom. New York: Routledge, 1994. N. pag. Print.
Because Freire had been put in a situation of oppression he argues against institutions and people that oppress. His dislike and knowledge of oppression as a physiological state and an institutional construct is strongly expressed in the book. The book stands to mainly inform people on what oppression is, how oppression affects people psychologically, how to help oppressed peoples, and how to educate in a non-oppressing way. All of Freire 's points draw on the fact that “Oppression not only resides in external social institutions and norms but lodges in the human psyche as well”, only to be changed by education, dialogue, and altering ways of thinking (Bell, 2013, 23). With the density of information packed into 192 pages the read can be quite hard, however his points are clear, concise, and many times restated to emphasize importance. With each chapter the book builds on itself using principles, ideas, and theories from previous chapters to go into further detail to explain itself. Chapter one speaks on oppression as a whole in relation to humans and the human experience, this builds in chapter two to how oppression is apparent in education which translates to the third chapter in Frieres explanation of dialogue as means of action and finally unites all chapters together by correlating how the problem of oppression can be solved through awareness,
This book, Dare The School Build a New Social Order by George Counts, is an examination of teachers, the Progressive Education Movement, democracy and his idea on how to reform the American economy. The book is divided into 5 different sections. The first section is all about the Progressive Education Movement. Through this, George Counts points out many downsides and weaknesses of this ideal. He also talks about how he wants teachers to lead society instead of following it. In the second section, he examines 10 widespread fallacies. These fallacies were that man is born free, that children are born free, they live in a separate world of their own, education remains unchanged, education should have no bias, the object of education is to produce professors, school is an all-powerful educational agency, ignorance rather than knowledge is the way of wisdom, and education is made to prepare an individual for social change.