A Lacanian Foundation For Critical Pedagogy

A philosophical study of Paulo Freire’s work through the lens of psychoanalytic theory.

This open access book sets out from Paulo Freire’s claim that the problem-posing model of education works as a “kind of psychoanalysis,” and deploys a Lacanian perspective to rearticulate the theoretical and practical principles of critical pedagogy.

Attending to the latent psychoanalytic sensibility of Freire’s project, Armonda brings this dimension to the surface, while clearly addressing its consequences for pedagogical experience. Armonda challenges long-standing assumptions on Freire and the nature of his problem-posing intervention, as the unconscious comes to the fore as the persistent, traumatic, and uncanny site of Freirean teaching. Drawing primarily on the work of Jacques Lacan as well as Frantz Fanon, Alenka Zupancic, and Slavoj Žižek, this book offers a critical introduction to psychoanalysis in the social, political, and philosophical foundations of education. The book extends an invitation to those in the tradition of critical pedagogy to grapple with this neglected dimension in Freire’s thought, and stands as an unapologetic call to return to his most subversive propositions on teaching.

The ebook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence on Bloomsbury Collections.