Paulo Freire and the Necessity of Critical Pedagogy in the Age of Book Banning

Paulo Freire and the Necessity of Critical Pedagogy is the topic of this discussion with Henry G

"Today, as education comes under attack by neoliberal and authoritarian regimes worldwide, Paulo Freire's ideas are more vital than ever," says Henry Giroux a professor who currently holds the McMaster University Chair for Scholarship in the Public Interest in the English and Cultural Studies Department and is the Paulo Freire Distinguished Scholar in Critical Pedagogy.  Paulo Freire, the radical Brazilian educator, would have turned 103 on September 19, 2025. Freire was not merely an academic; he was a revolutionary, a fierce champion of the oppressed whose lifelong fight for economic, educational, and social justice has left an indelible mark on generations of teachers, students, and cultural workers worldwide. His seminal work, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, was written under the brutal political repression of 1960s Brazil, yet its message reverberates even louder today in the face of rising authoritarianism and the war on critical thought. Freire knew that education is never neutral—it is always a political act. It either serves to liberate or to domesticate, to empower or to subjugate.

Henry Giroux has written a piece in the LA Progressive that complements and expands upon this interview. It can be found here:

https://www.laprogressive.com/education-reform/paulo-freire

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