Separated by a Common Heterodoxy. Illich, Freire and the Perilous Spell of Radical Canonicity

Abstract

Many scholars, students and teachers who admire and continue to find inspiration in Paulo Freire’s and Ivan Illich’s work often insist on a shared common ground. This is done for good reason: Illich and Freire sought a sense of hope and liberation beyond the limitations by which large sections of humanity remain oppressed. It is therefore too easy to argue that texts like Pedagogy of the Oppressed and Deschooling Society can be aligned in sustaining a liberating and emancipatory approach, just as Illich’s case for the disestablishment of education would make a lot of sense if it were aligned with Freire’s critical pedagogical narrative. However, as this paper begins to show, though noble, such an approach would be detrimental to the one foundational aspect which both works happen to share: the claim to heterodoxy by which both Freire and Illich have endeared to make their case. More than a standard academic paper, this is a reflection on decades of being engaged with these two books. In a mix of personal and academic thoughts, and mostly taken from an Illichian perspective, the author argues that one must clearly separate these books by further submitting them to a reading that would immediately dispense with the gloss by which they remain canonized though often confused. While not exhaustive, this paper is meant to provoke more questions than give any specific answers.

How far should we go seeking new horizons for education’s autonomy?

“…In Illich’s Deschooling Society , autonomy is often seen as being posed in extremis , while Freire’s approach to a critical pedagogy has somehow been pushed into a tamed and rather mainstream pedagogical tool of inclusion. Yet reading Freire and Illich together comes with a warning against conflating their theories of education on presumed grounds of convergence, even when what they really share is a radical sense of heterodoxy that characterizes equally radical, albeit very different, cases for autonomy (see Baldacchino, 2022).…”

“…In Illich's Deschooling Society, autonomy is often seen as being posed in extremis, while Freire's approach to a critical pedagogy has somehow been pushed into a tamed and rather mainstream pedagogical tool of inclusion. Yet reading Freire and Illich together comes with a warning against conflating their theories of education on presumed grounds of convergence, even when what they really share is a radical sense of heterodoxy that characterizes equally radical, albeit very different, cases for autonomy (see Baldacchino, 2022). Leaving Freire's case for autonomy aside, while Illich's case must be read in view of his later pronouncements on Deschooling Society, even back then his claims for disestablishment have been almost always wrongly contextualized and heavily misconstrued (as he would show in his work After Deschooling, What?…”

Poder, Política E Tradução: Notas Para Uma Genealogia Do Pensamento Freireano No Exterior

“…A união discursiva de Freire, como um pedagogo crítico à maneira norteamericana, gera uma certa detração pendular em que a argumentação sobre a potencialidade de suas ideias permanece presa a extremidades ora da esquerda ou da direita. Além dessas posições, o pêndulo freireano não consegue se mover (BALDACCHINO, 2021).…”