Author: Linden West
Canterbury Christ Church University, UK

Edition: Volume 61, Number 3, November 2021

Introduction: I consider in this paper the question of balance in popular education between what we can call annunciation and denunciation, inspired by the work of Paulo Freire. By annunciation, I mean the role of love, affirmation, encouragement and profound encounters with otherness; by denunciation, I have in mind the spirit of critique and challenge to the established order of things. In the process, I question the marginalisation of liberation theology in Paulo Freire’s work among some radical educators. There has, I suggest, been a sundering of spirituality, and especially religious insight, from rational enquiry in the academic mainstream, which has influenced readings of Freire. Modernity has privileged intellectualism and critical rationality as the only valid way of knowing; matters of faith and varieties of religious experience have correspondingly been privatised.

Keywords: secularism, religion, capitalism, critical spirit

[feather share] Share a copy of this abstract.

This article is part of AJAL, Volume 61:3. The entire volume is available in .pdf for purchase here.