Political education in Freire and Marxist criticism

theoretical-historical reflections

Abstract

This essay aims to reflect on Freire's political education and Marxist criticism, trying to delineate the paths of their theoretical encounters, rescuing their historical aspects. For this, the perspective of dialectical historical materialism was used to rehearse how political education is guided and which Marxist elements were fundamental in the construction of the history of education for the workers' struggle. The meeting of Marxian and Freirean elements points to the need for a critical political-pedagogical project, in the effort to (re)place workers as constituents of their own praxis. By deepening the search for the space of critical political education, Freire's thought rescues important elements of the dialectical method, however, it readapts to the influences of the local conjuncture of Latin America, resignifying the fundamental premises of the struggle. The need for criticism of capitalism is highlighted, as without it does not necessarily constitute a critical political education.