Thread by @LoganLancing

I want to discuss a paper this morning, one that helped me understand the merger of Critical Theory with Postmodernism.

Peter McLaren's "Critical Pedagogy and the Postmodern Challenge" (89')

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The paper's central argument was this:

We live in the wake of Postmodernism. PoMo argues that grand narratives (big stories about progress/history) are broken. Meaning is slippery, identity fluid, and everything fragmented. This creates unique challenges for fighting oppression.

Critical pedagogy, based on Paulo Freire's theory and methods, must adapt to this new reality - this postmodern challenge. Instead of relying on old narratives, it needs to help students understand and challenge systems of power in a world where everything feels uncertain.

This new "critical postmodernist pedagogy" recognizes the fragmented self while providing tools for fighting oppression. It helps students make sense of their experiences and work towards a liberated future, even amidst uncertainty.

McLaren's goal was to merge the two; to offer hope in a world that can feel hopeless. Critical Postmodernist Pedagogy empowers students to become critical marxists and agents of change, even when the old ways of understanding the world no longer applied.

The approach proposed looks like this:

Starting with students' personal experiences and helping them understand how their identities are shaped by social forces.

Promoting "solidarity" and "collective action", even while recognizing differences in experience and perspective.

Critically examining (Critical Theory) popular culture and its influence on our lives.

Maintaining a "language of possibility" — a belief that things can change, even in a fragmented world.

This is a call for educators to become "transformative intellectuals" who guide students to be critical marxists and activists in a complex world.

By combining critical pedagogy with postmodernism, McLaren joined other marxists who wanted to use the destructive power of Postmodernism to eliminate all narratives but theirs.

Now, it's my larger thesis that you don't need Postmodernism at all because Paulo Freire's theory+practice can already be considered Postmodern, but McLaren likely wouldn't argue that.

The point is that Marxists started admitting to combining Marxism with Postmodernism long ago.