Critical Theory, Critical Pedagogy and the Permanent Crisis in Community Colleges

Abstract

The historical failures of Marxism in the twentieth-century came in three forms: the inability to account for the rise of fascism and Nazism; the establishment of authoritarian regimes where “communist” revolutions had occurred, largely in pre-industrial societies from barely post-feudal Russia to peasant-based China and “developing” nations such as Vietnam; and the incapacity of the proletariat to develop class consciousness and foment class conflict in advanced industrial societies, where Marx and his followers knew capitalism to have arisen and where they assumed it would first be transcended. Seeking to understand these failures, yet to preserve and apply foundational elements of Marx's thought, the “critical theorists” of the Frankfurt Institute—at home and in exile—drew on additional sources including Hegel and Freud to diagnose the pathologies of modernity, though rarely to offer restorative treatments for Enlightenment values or Marxian transformation. Jürgen Habermas, the acknowledged leader of the “second generation” of critical theorists refused to succumb to the pessimism of his elders and reached out to increasingly diverse scholars in an effort to redeem the goals of reason, democracy and equity in modern life. His theoretical work—often abstract and dense—remains almost as marginal to mainstream thought as that of Adorno and Horkheimer before him; yet, it has influenced a minority of philosophers and social scientists still interested in education as an emancipatory human project. Using the specific context of contemporary community colleges, this contribution seeks to build bridges between Habermas' combination of basically Marxian, often Kantian, and always eclectic thought to show how educators could profitably reflect upon their professional lifeworlds, better comprehend the neoliberal ideology and power relations that entrap them, and find new inspiration and advice should they wish to interrogate and confront the corporate world in which they ply their trade.

Marxism and Andragogy

“…It interrogates power and authority in the interest of human emancipation. Eclectically inspired by traditional critics of technology (e.g., Jacques Ellul, George Grant, and Neil Postman), classical liberals (e.g., John Stuart Mill, William James, and John Dewey), gentle anarchists (Paul Goodman, Ivan Illich and George Woodcock), and Marxists of the far-famed Frankfurt School (T. W. Adorno, Erich Fromm, Max Horkheimer, Herbert Marcuse and, later, Jürgen Habermas), it offers a compelling critique of critical thinking (Doughty, 2017):…”

“…The increasing realization of the proletarianization of the professoriat has grown with unionization of teaching and research assistants, adjunct and other classifications of contract faculty, and the lower, more vulnerable ranks of the academy. To date, unfortunately, solidarity among college and university employees has far to go and, even if it were somehow to be achieved, there is little evidence that it would grow beyond "unionism" to "socialism"-especially when the identification with capitalism and the dependence on corporate funding takes over from public funding of the academy (Doughty, 2006;Doughty, 2008;Doughty, 2014;Doughty, 2017, Doughty, 2018aDoughty, 2018b;Doughty, 2019;Doughty 2020a;Doughty, 2020b;Doughty 2021). Nonetheless, even as industrial unions are squeezed out of the labor market, the growth of working class consciousness and pressure for union organization from Starbucks to Walmart, and the rise in public sector worker militancy may provide the kind of spark needed to demonstrate the necessity of a Marxian conceptual framework to reveal the relationship in the research lab, the classroom, and a waiting adult student "market" in need not just not just of employability skills, but of the old Marxist understanding of the true nature of the social relations of the production and reproduction of knowledge.…”

Pagbuo ng Workbuk sa Kasanayan sa Kritikal na Pag-iisip ng mga Estudyante

“…Sina Paul at Elder ay tumukoy ng mga katangian ng isang indibidwal na nagtataglay ng kritikal na pag-iisip na may sariling direksyon, disiplinado, nakapagsusuri at nakapagwawasto sa sarili. Naglalaan din ang indibidwal na ito ng mataas na istandard sa sarili at may katiyakan sa kaniyang ginagawa (Doughty, 2016). Sinabi rin ni Elder na ang taong nagtataglay ng kritikal na pag-iisip ay nakapagtataguyod ng pamumuhay sa mapanuri, makatwiran at mapagmalasakit na paraan.…”

The Ontology of Adult Learning

“…Thisspoketotheminaworldinwhichtechnicalcontroloverthingsandpeople seemed all-pervasive; their own discipline consumed by technocratic impulses (see Collins, 1991;Hart, 1991;Mezirow, 1981Mezirow, , 1991Plumb, 1989Plumb, , 1995Plumb, , 2001Plumb, , 2014Simon, 1992;Gouthro, 1999Gouthro, , 2002Welton, 1991Welton, , 1993Welton, , 1995Welton, , 2001Welton, , 2005Welton, , 2013Welton, , 2014aWelton, , 2014bDoughty, 2014;Brookfield, 2005). This article will explicate Habermas's Knowledge and human interests, arguing that this text may still serve as a foundational document for adult learning theory.…”