Available Languages: English, Portuguese

This free-access book is the more recent 30th Anniversary English edition of Brazilian educator Paulo Freire's influential Pedagogy of the Oppressed, originally written in Portuguese in 1968. The book develops a theory of education through the lens of disenfranchised and marginalized people, especially those living under 20th Century colonial rule. Freire believed that traditional education served to support the dominance and entitlement of socially privileged classes, serving to sustain the political and economic clout of the privileged few over the oppressed many. The theme of the book has been reimagined through thoughtful editing and introductory material to extend its relevance to marginalized groups in wealthier Western nations today. It still challenges the reader to consider what is necessary to overcome the oppression endemic to an exploitative society, in which "education must be remade" to inspire and enable the oppressed in their struggle for equity and full societal justice. Then as now, Pedagogy of the Oppressed focuses on  educational practices of consciousness-raising, dialogue, and collaboration between teacher and student in the effort to achieve greater humanization for all.