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    119 views23 pages

    Pedagogy of Hope-Ch 1

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    Paulo Freire's text Pedagogy of Hope- Ch 1

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    Pedagngy ofthe Oppressed Bacation for Critical Consciousness eda in Process ‘The Letare to Guinea Bisou ‘Learning to Question A Pedagory of Liberation (ith Antonio Foundes) edagoey ofthe Cty PAULO FREIRE PEDAGOGY OF HOPE Reliving Pedagogy of the Oppressed With Notes by Ana Maria Aratijo Freire Translated by Robert R. Barr CONTINUUM + NEW YORK Opening Words fe are surrounded by a pragmatic discourse that would. hhave us adapt to the fats of reality Dreams, and utopia, are called not only useless, but positively impeding (Afterall, they are an intrinsi part of any eccational practice with the power to unmask the dominant lies) It may soem strange, then, that I should write a book called Pedagogy of Hope: Relicing Redagogy ofthe Oppressed. ‘But for me, on the contrary, the educational practice of «progres sive option will never be anything but an adventure in unveiling, It ‘wll always be an experiment in bringing out the truth, Because this is the way T have alvays thought, there are those who dispute \hether or not Iam an educator. It happened recently in a meeting st UNESCO in Paris—T have been told by someone who was there. Latin American representatives refused to asribe me the standing of educator. At least I was not an edacator as far as they were con ‘cerned. And they criticized me for what seemed to them to be my ‘exaggerated “politicization,” ‘The filed to perceive that, n denying me the status of educator for being “to politica,” they were being a political as L Of cours, on opposite sides ofthe fence. “Neutral” they were not, nor could ‘ever be. (On the other hand, there must he countless individuals who think the way a friend of mine, a university professor, thinks. He came looking for me. In astonishment, he asked, “But Paul... a Pode ony of Hope in the shameless hellhole of corruption lke the one strangling us in Beall today?” ‘The fact is that the “democratization” of the shamelessness and Be 5 + PAULO FARIRE ‘corruption that s gaining the upper hand in our country, contempt {or the comnion good, and crimes that go unpunished, have only ‘broadened and deepened as the nation has begun to rise up in protest, Even young adults and teenagers erowd into the streets, Criteizing, calling for honesty and candor. The people ery out ‘azinst all the erase evidence of public corruption. The public squares are filled once more. Thero is a hope, however timid, on the street corners, a hope in each and every one of us. It i a if ost of the nation had been taken by an uncontainable need to ‘omit at the sight ofall this shamefulness, ‘On the other hand—vshile I certainly cannot ignore hopelessness ssa concrete entity, nor tur blind eye to the historical, economis, ‘and social reasons that explain that hopelestness—{ do not under- ‘stand human existence, and the struggle needed to improve i apart from hope and dream. Hope is an ontological need. Hopelessness is but hope that has lost its bearings, and become a distortion of that ontological need. ‘When it becomes a program, hopelessness paraly2cs ws, immobi- Iizes us. We succumb to fatalsm, and then it becomes impossible to muster the strength wo absolutely need for a ferce struggle that will re-create the world am hopeful, not out of mere stubbornness, but out ofan existe tial, concrete imperative. do not meaa that, cause Iam hopeful, Taltribute to this hope ‘of mine the power to transform reality all by ste, so that I set ‘out forthe fray without taking account of concrete, material data, declaring, "My hope is enought” No, my hope is necessary, but it fs not enough, Alone, it does not win. But without it, my stragele vel be week and wobbly. We need critical hope the way a fish needs ‘unpollated water. “The idea that hope alone will transform the world, and action undertaken in that kind of naiveté, is an excelent route to hope- Teseess, pessimism, and fatalism. But the attempt to do without hope, inthe struggle to improve the world, as if that struggle could bbe reduced to calculated acts alone, or a purely scientific approsch, isa frivolous ison. To attempt to do without bope, which is based ‘on the need for truth as an ethical quality ofthe strugle, i tanta ‘mount to denying that strugelo one of its mainstays. The essential PEDAGOGY OF HOPE - 9 ‘thing, as I maintain later on, is this: hope, a5 an ontological ned, demands an anchoring in practice. As an ontological need, hope needs practice in order to become historieal concreteness. That is ‘why there is no hope in sheer hopofulness, The hoped-for is not attained by dint of rv hoping. Just to hope isto hope in vain. ‘Without minimum of hope, we cannot x0 mich a st the struggle. But without the struggle, hope, as an ontological need, dissipates, loss its bearings, and turns nto hopelessness. And hope- Tessness can become tragie despair, Hence the need for a kind of, education in hope. Hope, as it happens, is so important for our existence, individual and soci that we rust tke every care not ‘experlence it ina mistaken form, and thereby allow itt slip toward hopelessness and despair Hopelessness and despair are both the ‘consequence and the cause of inaction oF immobilit, Tn limited situations, beyond which les “untested feasibility” slone'—sometimes percevable, sometimes not—we find the why ‘of both positions: the bopefal one and the hopeless one. ‘One of the tisks of the progressive edveator throush a serio, correct political analysis, is to unveil opportunities for hope, no ‘matter what the obstacles may be. After all, without hope there is little we can do. I will be hard to struggle en, and when we fight ‘as hopeless or despairing persons, our strugele will be suledal. We shall be beside ourselves, drop our weapons, and throw ourselves into sheer hand-to-hand, purely vindictive, combat. Of course, the clement of punishment, penalty, correction —the punitive element inthe strugzle we wage in our hope, in our conviction oft ethical and historical rightness—belongs to the pedagogical nature ofthe political process of which strugalo is an expression. It would not be ‘equitable that injustices, abuses, extortion, illicit profits, influence peddling, the use of offices and positions forthe satisfaction of per~ sonal interests—all of these things that make up the reason for which, with justifiable anger, we now steuggle in Breil—should go ‘uncorrected, just as it would not be right for any of those who would be dg ily not o be severely pundit thei of Te will not do—it isnot a valid argument—simply to admit that ‘none of this is a “privilege” of the Third Worl, as we sometimes Ihear it suggested. Yes, the First World hus indeed always been sn 10+ ravuo ennime ample of canals of wry sort als a model of wickedness of Sxpltaion We need only eink of clniisn—af the masses efimade, sabjugated, colonized peoples; ofthe wars of this eo- tury of shame cespening rac diciminaton, andthe rpine tha calanaom has perpetrated. No, we have no monopely en the dishonorable Bt we can no longer connie with he scandals that Sound ws in our romolet dep “Wet cic just to lake ene example among dozeas—that certain poliicans should seek t cond her dors fom thelr constituents (who bave an abt right fo Snow what 6 done in Congres aid why) aod defend, with psn ss, nthe name sfdemocray some right to hide out in sere ball daring ‘residential vote of conden! Why hide, uns there a loot Zone mininal ik oon’ piel wel beng? Why i conceament Sslomnly dubbed the puri” honorablenes,”"uasalay” of the president? Let thse polls hive the dglty to assume re spony fr their opto. Let them come sgt oot wih thei ie of he eo tay inva nd Fodagony of Hope i tht Kodo Js writen in age a low wie wh there no bop I est a+ deeoe of tlcrance not be cofsed ith coonhance-and races. Te Sormeant wa cto of sectarian, Teatempls t expan and dhlend progressive postmoderity andi wil ret conservative, neler postmoderal “The st step sl take wl be to analy or speak ofthe fbr the tet te very stand, of the fines, yout, and budding maturity in which Fedogy of the Oppreed. which Trevis In ths books eame toe prolamed, frst in orl frm and then Ja wet Some ofthese stands, these tread, wil end with my exe foto which L go wth a sou stnped In hitory—tbe cultural mark, totories clings, and vntiments, doobt, dreams Ua eter gl Of th daving bord but were nvr abandoned and lng f fay worl my shy the ted ser ofthe Alar, te “improper Tinguge of the peopl, the correct langage ofthe poople"* Ta TAamal Bode, “Exons do Ros” Fos, 6 oh Rs de Jae: Jove Opt 665, p 19) _ Pescocy oF Horr + Il rived in exe and reacted the memory Tore in my sol of Iman inrwined tread there I cae foe marked and stampa By me ft, new knowledge snd these wove now epee aapesy, eazy ofthe Oppressed eneres rom all hs, an T shal speak ow ofthat boskeof how learned wile T wrote and ineed of how, whe Bt spestng otis pedagogy. se to write the book, : oa a Then, In a second step tis prtent ook sll turn to ees of the Oppressed shal dca sme of te sagen, ad tnalae certain crits lee agaist in the 190s Tithe hed an al step th wok, shal sak at nah of the treads and theirs wince este, sr, an Pas of the Opprened el Here cal ral selveon bane Sha actly be relving-and as {dos rethink. cortisol omen in my Jour eu the fe corners the earth ‘hich Twas cried by Fedagony ofthe Opprsed Petopy, ae {er I should make it clear fo ear thas taking myc bck {5 Pedagogy ofthe Opprese in peaking tay he apeey ey eperioncein the 1970, {aot tend to wallow hosel, Instead, my reencounter with Pedozagy a the Opprsed wil ee the toe of one who speaks oto at has ben ut of ht The fs, the dete, the dessins, he projects the eperi sens th dalogues in which shred in the 170 Dearing on Pedagogy ofthe Opened, uso me t bw carton asd others 0 which sal ey te 1880 an de I should now like, in these opening words, to thank 2 group of ‘fiends, in Brazil und abroad, with whom, even before beginning to ‘work on this Pedagogy of Hope, I held conversations about this Project, and from whom I receved such important encouragement: ‘Ang Maria Freire, Madalena Freire Weffort, Maria de Fatima Freire Dowbor, Lutgardes Freire, Ladislau Dowbor, Celso Beisio- ‘gel, Ana Marta Saul, Moacir Gadott, Antonio Chizzotti, Adriano Nogueira, Mércio Campos, Carlos Arguclo, Eduardo Sebastian Fet- reirs, Adio J. Cardoso, Henry Gizous, Donaldo Macedo, Peter Park, eter MeLaren, Ira Shor, Stanley Aronowitz, Rail Magaia, Joao Batista F Pinto, Michael Apple, Madeleine Groumet, Martin Car- 12 + PAULO PREIRE nex Geos Tones, Baad Hache, Ala Flor Ada agin Foxe Sonne MbonCrstion ice Hinge, and Alberto Hear Tk abo lke to express my thks to my i, Ane Maria Free forth eelent oes appended hers hich ary od toc nortan element nay tet. Supererits inthe tet reer tober numbered eno atthe bik ofthe bork Alter, on teeter md, rely ott tthe bom a the ase ‘am kee ore ny indiana Sere Hater Late, whoo pel nl deel probed the exp ith me. or mut Tomi to cee ny gate to Wernes Mak Lin, forthe ents wth wich be a ys sce this projet tlie whether eto eo nor credence ame Sato th wi say ry hb ed he mare Spt of Pedagogy of he Oppressed and pabied nll to Mares apart, coe fhe nest ond mos snstive publishers in Brazil today, I send a brotherly embrace and a “Thank Somme forth tte wth wich be conta dic wih Fre what mal ome ob Pedagogy of Hoe Rain eda of the Opresed Paulo Freire ‘fo Paalo January 1994 CHAPTER the same school where Thad completed my secondary educa- ion and, abo, as special for of the schoo!’s director, Dr Aluizio Pessoa de Arata. my preperatory course for law school It ‘was at that time that I received the invitation to become part of the recently created Industrial Social Service, SEST, the Regional Department of Pernambuco, set up by the National Industrial Con federation and given legal status by presidential decree." ‘The invitation was transmitted through a great friond of mine and fellow alumnus of Colégio Osvaldo Cruz, a person to whom Iam ‘bound by close ties of friendship, which our palitial disagreements hhave never disturbed, to this very dix: Our disagreements had to be. They expressed our diverging views ofthe word, and our under- standing of lif itself. We have got through some ofthe most difficult moments of our lives tempering our disagreements, thereby de- fending our right and our dty to preserve mutual love by ensring that it wal rise above our political options and ideologicl positions. Without our knowing it at the time, we were aready—each in his ‘or her own way—postmodorn! In fick in our mutual respect, we ‘were actually experiencing the rock-bottom foundation of polities. His name is Paulo Rangel Moreira Toda he is an etformey of renown, and professor of law atthe Federal University of Pernam- ‘buco:* One bright afternoon in Recife, he came to ou house fa the Casa Forte district, 204 Rita de Souza Street, and told ue—Elza, ‘my first wile, and! me—of SEST's existence and what it could mean J 2 1957 I vas teaching Portuguese at Colégio Oswaldo Cruz,? M4 PAULO FREIRE: {for us. He had already accepted the invitation extended to him by. the young president of the organization, engincer and industrialist Cid Sampaio, to coordinate its social service proects. Every indica tion was that he would soon move to the legal department of the ‘organization —his dream to work inthe field of his own expertise, T listened, we listened—silent, curious, reticent, challenged—to ‘Paulo Range!'s optimistic discourse. We were alte fri, too, Elza ‘and L Affeid of the new, perhaps. But there was also within us & ‘willingness and a tate for risk, for adventure ‘Night was “falling,” Night had “Ellen.” In Recife, night “arrives” suddenly: The sun is “surprised” to find itelf stil shining, and ‘makes a run fori as if there were no time to lose. ‘Ela flicked on the light. “And what wall Paul do inthis organiza- tion?” she asked. “What will it be able to offer Paul besides the ‘alaty he needs? How wil he be able to exercise his curiosity what Creative work will he be able to devote himself to so that he wont die of sadness and longing for the teaching job he likes so much?” "We were in or lst year ofa school, n the mide ofthe seit year Something hed already happened, right about the time of the Invitation, that was to become very important in my life. 1 have already refered to ft in interviews, and it has been mentioned in biographical notes i books and periodicals. It had made Elza laugh ‘with setisfition at seeing something happen that she had almost suessed would happen—something she had counted on happening ‘nce the beginning of our life together. At the same time, her laugh ‘was a pleasant one, without anything like “I tld you so” sbout it ‘ut just fall-to-the-brim of gladness ‘Thad come home at the end of the day with the tsty sensation ‘of someone correcting a mistake he or she has been making. Open= ing the door, Ela asked me a question that, on so many people's lips, isnot rauch more than & kind of bureaucratic formality, but which when asked by Elza ons alvays 2 genuine question, never 2 roto formula. It expressed lively curiosity. and betokened true fnvestigation. She asked, "Everything all right atthe ofie today?” "And T told her about the experience that had put an end &9 my brand-new earver asa layer I really needed to talk. I needed to PEDAGOGY OF HOPE + 15 recite, word for word, whet I had Just told the young dentist I had sitting in front of me in my very ne office. Sh; frightened, nervous, his hands moving as if suddenly unhooked frm his mind, detached from his conscious body, and bocome autonomous, and yet unable to do anything “on their own,” do anything with themselves, or connect with the words that tumbled out of his mouth (God knows Ihow)—the young dentist had said something to me that I needed to speak with Flea about at once. I needed to talk with Elz at that special moment, just as in other, equally special moments in the ‘course of our life. I needed to speak ofthe spoken, ofthe said and ‘the not said, of the heard, ofthe listened to. To speak of the sa is not only to resay the said, but to alive the living experience tht, has generated the saying that now, at the time of the resting, i sad once more. Thus, to res. to speak of the said, implies hearing ‘once again what has been suid by someone else about ar because of the saying that we ourselves have done. “Something very exciting happened to me this aternooa—just a fy mints gn" adm “Yo now wha na ong a liwyer Its not that I see nothing special, nothing captivating, about law: Lav is ea basic need. Ifa job that has to be done, and Just as much as anything else, it as to be based on ethics, and ‘competence, and seriousness, and respect for people. But lav init ‘what I want." Then I spoke of what had been, of things experienced, of words, of meaningful silences, of the said, of the heard. Of the young dentist before me whom Id invited to come talk with me a his creditors attorney: The young man had set up his dental fice, atleast partially, and bod not paid his debts, “Lmade a mistake,” he sid. “T guess I was overoptimistie. T took ‘outa loan I cat pay buck But Y'm logally required to have certain instruments in order to practice dentistry. So, well, si... you can {take our furniture, in the dining room, the living room - -." And ‘then, laughing a shy laugh, without the trace of a sneer—with as ‘much humor as irony—he finished up:". . . Only you cant have sy eighteen-month-old baby gic” Thad listened in silence. [vas thinking. Then T sad to him,“ think you and your wife and your lite girl and your dining room and your living rom are going tsi in a kind of suspended animation for 16_-_ravio Faeme 4 while, as far as your debt-troubles are concerned. Tm going to have to wait till next week to see my client and tel him Tim dropping the ease. Ill tke him another week or soto get another dawn-and- cuter ke me tobe his attorney. This wil give you a litle breathing spice, even iit is just suspended animation. 7 also like to tll you that like you, Pm closing down my career belore ifs even gotten started Thanks” ‘The young man, of my avn generation, may fr all T know have Jefe my office without much ofa grasp of what had been sald and. heard. Y squeezed his cold hand warmly with mine. Once he was Thome again and had thought over what had been sid, who knows, Ire might have begun to understand some ofthe reasons that had Ted me to say what I had sei “That evening, relaying to Elz what had been suid, ¥could newer have imagined that, one day, 30 many years later, T would write Fedagoay of the Oppresed, whose discourse, whose propose, has something to do with the experience of that afternoon, in terms of ‘what i, too, meant. and especie in ters ofthe decision to accept id Sampai's invitation, conveyed to me by Paulo Rangel. 1 aban- doned the practice of lw for good that afternoon, once I had heard Elz say, "T was hoping for that. Youre an edueator” Not many months after, as the night thet hed arrived in such haste began, T said yes to SESTs summons tits Division of Education and Culture, ‘whose field of experience stad: relletion, and practice was to be- come sn indispensable moment in the gestation of Pedagogy of the Oppressed. Never does an event, a fct, deed, a gesture of rage or lve. a poem, a painting, a song, a book, have only one reason beied it In Gat a deed, a gesture, a poem, a painting, a song, a book are alms wrapped ia thick wrappers They have been touched by mani- fold whys. Only some of these ae close enoush to the event or the creation to bo visible as whys. And s0 Thame always been more interested in understanding the process in and by whieh things ‘ome about than in the producti itself Pedagoay of the Oppressed could not have gestated within me solely by reason of my stint with SEST. But my stint with SEST ‘was fundamental to its development. Even before Pedagogy of the Oppressed, my time with SESH wove a tapestry of which Fedagogy FEDAGOGY OF HOPE + IT vs a kind of inevitable extension. rer tothe disetation 1 de- fended in what was then the Univerty of Rec and ater the Federal University of Pernambuco: “Edicagio © atuliade bras dein.” Hater reworked my dissertation ad published x Educa como prética da liberdade, and that bok basil care the oe runner of Pedagogy of the Oppressed. ‘Again, In Interviews, i dialogues with infllectuals, including non-Brarlans, T hae made relerences to more remote that enveloped me, by bits and pieces, from my childhood and adolescence onward, antedating my tine with SES, which as ‘without any doubt 2 “bunding tame” afoundational tine. “These bts and pieces of tine actully lived in me—for I had ved them—avating another time, which might not ewen hive cme at st came, bat into which, if did come, ealer bits and peces of time were destined to exten, fn the composton ofthe ager. "ACLimes, st happens to us not fo perceive the “Kinship” among. the times we have experienced, and dus tole sip the opportunity to “solder together” disconnected coguitins, and in so doing to Allow the second to shed ight on the doula briliance ofthe ist There was my experience of Iniaey and adolescence with oang sters who were th children of ural and urban workers, my lie as 2 child with children whose opportunities for if were so utterly anima, the way in which most of their parents treated ww-—Temie- tocles, my immediately elder brother, and me-—thelr “ear of ee- dom,” which Tnever understood, nor ealled this at the tne, ther subservient ated toward their employers, the bos, the omnes, ‘hich lates, moch Iter Tread in Sartre wat one ofthe expressions af the “connivance” af the oppressed with the oppressors * There vere their oppressed bodies, the uneonsuled hosts of the oppres- sors parasitism. TU interesting, i a.contert of eldhod and adolescence, the connivance maistained withthe wickednes ofthe powerfal—ith the wealness that needed t torn into the strength ofthe dom. nated—that the tine of SESIs foundation, thn ine of slderings” and “splicing of old. pure “gueses,” to which my new knowledge ear ral rea pre to Fane Pon, Os cndenados de Tere (Ro de Jie: Cras Bre 18 PAULO FREIRE, with its eritical emergence gave meaning, was the moment at which Tread the why, or some ofthe whys—the tapestries and fabri that were books already written and not yet read by me, and of books yet to be written that would come to enlighten the vivid memory that was forming me: Marx, Lukics, Fromm, Gramsci, Fanon, Memmi, Sartre, Kosik, Agnes Heller, M. Pont, Simon Wel, Arendt, Marouse, and So many others. : ‘ears later, the putting into practice of some of the “solderings” sand “spicing” ofthe inaugural years of SEST sent me into exile"— ‘kind of “golden spike” that enabled me to connect recollections, recognize fcts, deeds, and gestures, fase pieces of knowledge, sol der moments, re-cognize in order #0 cognise, to know, better. Tn this effort to recall moments of my experience—which neces- sarily regardless of whon they were, became sources of my theoret- cal reflections fr the writing of Pedagogy ofthe Oppressed, as they ‘would continue to be taday as I rethink Pedagogy—t feel that it will be appropriate to refer to an excellent example of such « mo- tment, which I experienced in the 1950s, The experience resulted ina learning process of rel importance for me—for my theoretical understanding of the practice of political education, which, if iis to be progressive, must, az I have abveys asserted, tke careful ac- ‘count of the reading of the world being made by popular groups land expressed in their discourse, their synta, thelr semantics, ther dreams and desires. was now working in SESI, and specifically on relations between schools and families: Thad begun to experiment with various ave- noes to an improvement ofthe meeting of minds: to an understand- ing of the educational practice being carried out inthe schools, on the pact of families; to an understanding of the difficulties that fai lies from popular areas would hive in confronting problems in the implementation of thelr own educational activity. At bottom, I was Joking for a dislogue between them from which might rosult the necessary mutual asstance that, at the same thme—ss it would imply more involvement of the families in the school—might en- hance the political connotation of tht involvement in the sense of ‘opening channels of democratic participation to fathers and mothers in the actual educational poliy being implemented in the school. Thad carried out, by that time, a research project covering some PEDAGOGY OF HOPE «19 ‘one thousand families of students, throughout the urban area of Recle, the Zona de Mata, the countryside, and what might be ealled the “doorsny” tothe desert hinterland o Pernambuco ® where SEST Ihad nuclei or social centers in which it offered its members and ‘their families medical and dental arsistance, scholastic help. sports and recreation projects, cultural projects, end soon, My research, which had nothing of the sophisticated about it asked the parents questions about their relationship with their daughters and sons. [asked about punishments, rewards, the most frequent punishments, the most frequent reasons for it their chil ret’ reaction to the punishment, an’ change in their behavior, ‘or want thereof, in the direction desired by the person doing the punishing, and $0 on 1 recall that, when T had sifted through the results, Twas aston- {shed, even more than T had expected to be, at the emphasis on ‘corporal punishment, really violent punishment, in the Reeife inner ‘iby; the Zona da Mata in the rural area, and hinterland, by contrast with the almost complete absence, not ony of valent corporal pum ishment, but of any punishment of children, along the fishing coast. Tt seemed that, along the coast, under the maritime sky, the legends of individual freedom with which the culture is drenched), the fish- er8 confrontation, in their precarious jangadas or rfts,? with the frees of the sea, the Independent jobber’ work done by persons free and proud, the imagination that lende such color tothe fishers fantastestories—it seemed that all of this had some connection with the taste for a lberty diametrically opposed to the use of violent punishment [do not know myself to what extent we might consider the fishers Iifestyle t00 permissive, wanting boundaries, or whether, on the contrary, with their emphasis on freedom, and conditioned by theit ‘own cultural contest, the fishers are simply relying on nature itself, fon the world, on the sea, in and with which their children they wi 1n experience of themselves, to be the source of freedoms necessary mits, It was as if, softening or trimming down theie duty as thelr children’s educators fathers and mothers shared them with the sea, ‘with the world itself to which it would fll, through their children’s practice, to delineate their responsibilities. In this fashion, the chil 20 + pavLo yeme dren would he expected to learn naturally what they might and ‘not do EEE endo gemnemnteoooe sie they fle and ol, confonting the sat fellowship wth its mysteries, doin what they called “scientific fishing," of which ‘hey had spoken tome in the sunsets when, relaxing with them in ‘heir primitive sheers, thle eaigaras, I learned to understand them better by listening to them. On the other hand, they were ‘cious plundered, exploited, naw by the middlemen who bought fornothing the produto their hard labor now bythe moneylenders who Binanced thelr work tools Sometimes, a listened to them—in my conversations with them Jn hich Feared something oftheir syntax and semaaties, without which T could not have worked with them, or at any rate not effec- Uvely I wondered whether they didsit perhaps notice how unfree f were, el nthe sing sen we den he eo why various students were missing school so fequently. Students and parents, separately replied. The students, “Beane were tree" The patents, “Because theyre fee: Thy go back some dy Panishiments in the other areas of the state that I roscarched ranged fom fying a child to tre, lacking them n 2 oom for hours ‘on end, ving them “eskes” with thick, heay switches. forcing them to kneel on stones used to grind cora, threshing them with leather saps. This lst wo the prinetzal punishment in 2 toon of the Zona da Mata that vas amos for is shoemaking. “Those punishments were aplied for trivial reasons, and people watching the fishing were told, “Hard punishment makes hard peo- pl, who aze upto the cructy of fe” Or, “Getting hit makes areal man out of you" ‘One of my concern, a the tne, a all hen a snow was with the politial consequences of tht kind of relationship between parents and children, which later becomes that between teachers and pupils, when it came tothe learning process of our infant de ‘oeracy twas af family and school were so completely subjected to tho great context of global society that they could do nothing bt read the authoritarian ideolons. ‘acknowledge the risks to which we expose ourselves in confront- PEDAGOGY OF HOPE + 21 {ng such problems. On the one hand, there fs the danger of voluntae rism, ultimately « kind of “idealism of the strife” that acribos tothe will ofthe individual with the power to do all things On the other hrand there is the peril ofa mechanistic objctivism that refies to ascribe any role to subjectivity inthe historical process Both ofthese conceptions of history. and of human beings fa that history end by definitively canceling the role of edacation, The fist because it attributes to education a power that it doesnot have; the second, because it denies that it has any power at all. As forthe relationship between authority and freedom—the sub~ sect of the research project that I have mentioned—we also run the risk either of denying freedom the right to assert itself, thus ‘exacerbating the role of authority; or elge of atrophying the latter and thus hypertrophying the former In other words, we run the "isk of succumbing to the seduction or tyranny of liberty, or tothe ‘granny of authority, thus acting at erose-purposes, in either hy. Dthess, with our incipient democracy. ‘This was not my position then and st ix not my positon mone And today as yesterday. while on perhaps better foundations than yesterday, Tam completely persuaded of the importance, the un. ‘Benes of the democratization of the public school, and ofthe onto. ‘ng training ofits educators, among whom 1 include security people, ‘ifeteria personnel, aad eustodins, and soon, Thelr formation must bbe ongoing and scientific. Nor should it fil to insil a taste for democratic practices, among which should he an ever more active {ntervention on the part ofeducands and their families a to which Airection the school is going. This has boen one of the tasks to which T have devoted myself recently so many years after having first observed this need, and spoken of it in my 1959 academic treatise, “Educagéo © atualidade brasileira," to address it again as secretary of education for the City af Séo Paulo from January 1989 {© May 1981. Hore isthe challenge af the democratization of the public school, so neglected by the military governments that, in the name ofthe salvation of the country from the curse of coment. ‘ism and fom corruption, all but destroyed that country. Finally with the results of my study in hand, I scheduled a kind of systematic visitation ofall of the SESI nuclei or social centers in the state of Pernambuco where we maintain primary schools! as 22+ PAULO Freie they were called at the time, to go there and speak to the parents about the fadings of the inquiry. And to do something more: to join to communication of the findings of the investigation a discus sion about the problem ofthe relationship between authority and freedom, which would necessarily involve the question of punish- iment and reward In education. “The tour for diseassion with the families was preceded by another, which I made in order to debate, in seminars as rigorous as it was possible to have, the same question with teachers Thad pot together—in collaboration with a colleague, Jorge Mon- teiro de Melo, recently deceased, whose seriousness, honesty, and devotion I now reverence—an essay on scholastic discipline, whic, slongside the results ofthe study, bocame the object of our prepars tory seminar in our meetings with the families. Io this fshion, we prepared ourselves, a a school, to welcome the students familis— the natural educators of those of whom we were the professional ‘educators ‘Buck then, T was accustomed to give long talks on the subjects that had heen selected. I was repeating the traditional route of is- course about something that you would give an audience. Then 1 trould shift the format to a debate diseusion, dialogue about the Subject with the participants. And, while Tas concerned about the order and development of ideas, T proceeded almost as if I were speaking to university students I si “almost,” becanse actually my sensitivity bad already made me aware of the diflerences in lan- ‘nuage, the syntactical and semantic diferences, between the work- ing persons with whom I was working and my own language Hence ‘ny talks were always punctuated wit, "In other words,” or “That {sto sa). ..” On the other hand, despite some years of experience a an educator, with wrban and rural workers, T still nearly always Started out with my world. without farther explanation, as iit ought to be the “south” to which their compass ought to point in giving them their bearings. It was as i my word, my theme, my reading of the world, in themselves, were to be their compass 1 was a long learning process, which implied a journey, and not alveys an easy one, nearly always painfl, to the point thet I per- ‘uaded myself that, even when my thesis and proposal were sure, and [had no doubt in their respec, i was nevertheless imperative, PEDAGOGY OF HOPE - 3 first, to know whether this thesis and proposition enineided with the reading ofthe world ofthe groups or social class to whom Twas speaking; second, it was incumbent upon me to be more or less abreast of, familiar with, their reading of the world, since only on the basis ofthe knowledge in its content, or impliet init, would i be possible for me to diseuss my reading of the world, which im turn, maintains, and js based on, another type of knowledge, This learning process, this apprenticeship, whose story isa long, ‘one, i rehearsed in my university dissertation, cited above, contin tues being sketched in Educagio como pritica da liberdade, and ‘becomes explicit once and for all in Pedagogy of the Oppressed. ‘One moment—I could even si a solemn one, among others, ofthis spprenticeship—oceurred during the one-day seminar to which 1 ‘have referred, which consisted of talks in which I discussed uthor- ity, freedom, and punishment and reward in education, Te happened precisely in the SESI nucleus or socal conter named for President Dutra. at Vaseo da Gama!"—Amarela House—in Revife. ‘Basing my presentation on an excellent study by Piaget* on the clile's moral code, his and her mental representation of punish- ‘ment, the proportion between the probable cause of punishment ‘and the punishment itself, Tspoke at length. quoted Piaget himself fon the subject, and argued fora dialogicl, kxing relationship be- tween parents and children in place of violent punishments My mistake was not in citing Piaget. In fact, how much richer yy presentation could have heen if 1 had talked about him very ‘concretely using a map, and showing where Recife is, then the Brazilian Northeast, then to move out to the whole of Brazil, show where Brazil isin South Ameria, relate that to the rest ofthe world, and finally, point to Switzerland, in Europe, the land ofthe author Tas quoting. It would have been not only richer, but more chel- Jenging and instructive, to do that. But my actual mistake was, frst fn my use of my language, my syntax, without more effort to get close tothe language and syntsx of my audience; and second in my all. bot oblivion of the hard realty ofthe huge audene> seated fore me. “jean Paget The Moral Judgment ofthe Che, tras Marre Worden (New ‘irks Brace Wel 190 24 + PAULO PREINE ‘When I had concluded, « man of about forty, still rather young bot ready worn out and exhausted, raised his hand and gave me the clearest and most bruising Tesson I have ever received in my Me as en educator. 1 do not know his name, 1 do not know whether he is stl alive. ‘Possibly not The wickedness ofthe country’s socioeconomic struc- tures, which take on stronger colors in the Brazilian Northeast— sulerng, hunger, the indifference of the mighty—all this must have swallowed hima up long since. He raised his hand and gave a tal thut I have never been able to forget. It seared my soul for good and all. thas exerted an enormous influence on me. Newly alvays, in academe ceremonies in which Thave had an honorary doctorate conferred on me by some wniver- sity Tecknowledge how much I ve, a6 well, to person like the one ‘of whom Tatn now speaking, and not only to scholars—other think- ‘erswho have taught me, ton, and who continue to teach me, teschers tvithout whom it would have boon impossble for me to lear, like the laborer soho spake that nicht. Actually, were it nt forthe scien fife rigor that offers me greater opportunities for precision in my findings, I should not be able critically to perceive the importance ‘of common sense and the goad sense therein residing. In almost ‘very academic ceremony ia which Lam honored, see him standing in one of the aisles of that big auditorium of so long ego, bead rect, es blazing, speaking ina loud, clear voice, sore of himself, speaking his lacid speech. “We have just heard,” he began, “some nice words from Dr. Paulo Frelte. Fine words, in fact. Well spoken. Some of them were even simple enough for people to understand easily, Others were more feomplicated. Bet I think I understood the most important things that all the words together si. Now Fa like to ask the doctor a couple of things that I find my fellow workers agree with” Te fied me with a mild, but penetrating gaze and asked: “Dr Paul, sir—do you know where people live? Have you ever been In any of our hooses, si?” And he bein to describe their pitiful Ihouses, e told me ofthe lack offices, ofthe extremely minimal space in-which all their bodies were jammed. He spoke of the lack Of resources for the most basic necessities. He spoke of physical ; me PEDAGOGY OF HOPE - 25 xno and ofthe ipo ofr abet toro etd me fhe prokbitio nosed on them | crovwn olbaving Lore pose from being happy— As Tflle his discourse, Cbg os where he was ging © g» with tI ms ouchisg ny chat uching beomse Tan Erin sink dwn tot And he carving. te need a my iagiaton a the dsr of my bay which were oth Bight to nd some hale tien He pased afew second, nang hhis eyes over the entire audience, fixed on me once more, and said, Doctor {have never boen ve tor hose But Ta ke te de eee ee Se have? Boys or girls?” ren, esd hr dove tay dae Te “Wl, Doctor sour Rouse must be tho only House on wha thy ll ay Hore hos hus ih yr Thee ‘aut be a oom jst for you and yur wtf se Another big om, thats forthe hoe wile. Thess another Kd of datos nhs room fr etry ton or davghter Bt ye ot ht isda si {bu hve another oom fr the wo boys batho with Fain water A htchen with Arvo sppinces® A mai room=amet Srl han your 8 roman the tse the hose Atle ‘aren, with nares (he Engh wordt” fot la, “Yoo must also hve «rom where yon toss your ek sivas library. C can tell by the way you talk that you've done @ lot of ‘reading, sir, and you've got a good memory.” There was snhing to add or subtract. Tat was my house. An- ater sci dome ow Doctor, ok tthe difrence Yo come home red si low that. in sn ie hace fom the wrk yo da Thinking, writing, reading, giving these ind of alls that youre hg lat er en ot at ano thing to come home, een tired, and find th i alt STs can el 28 t hngy lt ing tec - home and find your kids dirt, hungry, erving, and making noise, And people have to get up at four in the morning the nr in the morning the nextday and start ll oer again—hurting, sd, hopeless. I people ht their kids, "and even ‘go beyond bounds,” as you say, its not because people 26 = PAULO FREIRE ir kids. No, its because life is so hard thay dost have This is class knowledge, I say now. “This talk was given about thirty-two years ago. Ihave never forgot- ten it It sid to me, despite the fact that I didn understand this at the time, much more than it immediately communicated In his intonations, his laborers syntax and rhythm, the move~ ments of his body his hands of a orator, inthe metaphors so com- ‘mon to popular discourse, he elled the attention of the eduestor there in font of hin, seated, silent, sinking down fnto his char, to the need, when speaking to the people, for the educator to be up toan understanding of the world the people have. An understanding. ofthe world which, conditioned by the concrete reality thet in part ‘explains that understanding, ean begin to change through a chenge in that concrete reality. In fac, that understanding ofthe world can begin to change the moment the uzmasking of concrete reality bo- ‘gins to lay bare the “whys” of what the actual understanding had ‘heen sp ntl then A change in understanding, which is of basic importance, does not of itself, however, mean a change in the concrete ‘The fat that I have never forgotten the fabric in which that dis- course was delivered is significant. The discourse of that farasay night is sil before me, as iit had been a written text, an essay that constantly had to review. Indeed, it was the culmination of the learning process Thad undertaker long ago—that of the progressive ‘educator: even when one must speak fo the people, one must con- vert the “to” to-a “with” the people. And this implies respect for the “knowledge of living experience” of which T always speak, on the basis of which itis possible to go beyond it ‘That night, in the ear on the way back home, I complained to Ela rather bitterly. Though she rarely accompanied me to meet- ings, when she did she made excellent observations that alvays Iholped me 1 thought Td been so clean,” I said “I dost think they under~ stood me” ‘Could i have been you, Paulo, who didnt understand them?” Bla asked, and she went on: "I think they got the main point of sour talk The worker made that clear in what he sai. They under- PEDAGOGY OF HOPE + 27 sod you, but thy node iv uu undone, Tae eqn” ite, Pedogay of he Oppresed spoke fhe ory hat became seed in pie tha rg nthe whee nena et tho inex og ih the fener of oy oe Eine inet "he reas wet ther tana poss provi sng orth ime anor pce eerie ae wey someting he gu This why Thine opel e e Pl eg fae te ree soem oe thrby tino vel team wy of he wy ck we operans sehen teh nomen ‘oul le eso, non, to mero the nes, enter sh tt peal srl ny ena pens nd as notable tadunce ne dowlpment oy plage heh and educational practice. se stepping tack nw om te momento whch tam aoa to rhe With I txprneel teenny the spt of ett Ieeshenne—pa i thn who Towa sang SESI oe Wz nt ut Comet bat «pecs nove pete pre Secreted tee ny chidod l te bepnig cy tSengey iboats Daring ihe pvt tan ting ht, fom the ae of ten twptottentne Ia oe rome bya ses af ep tad ‘Siow fom tie to tine Tmt ttl sack oe ‘estan led wry Bone Nery awa spe {voor thee der eon lng the Sometne ts se ‘nd ws atcksne wb ening sect my ace home Sometine wuld come gay and ete eat tne acne Rep of hh wy ican: ie weld Bore wth he wri wT wore tobe amp ep swe Totan Tid at and eeying eed ne ood Sones i. Whe wal dpa ‘nen slate om high sol managed to rt snd fend me by cling me abate ny iho Drew or tts dy hate en tndesteed e ‘lt atone! On Empret Set ws bea Hope Breet un you were wang on he the ste theo oe 25 PAULO PREIS ‘the other way T crosted over, and wived a ig hella. I thought youd ‘stop and say hi! And you just kept on walking! Why did you pretend you didnt see me?” ‘There were other, les striking, cases than this one. My explana- tion was alvays the same. "I dint see you. Look, Tim your friend! T woulda do somethiog like that!” "Ela always bad deep understanding for me when this happened, ‘and she helped me in every way she could. And the finest help she ‘could give me, and she gave i, was not to so much as suggest to-me that my attitude toward her was changing ‘After T had had these experiences for some time, especially 3» they were beginning to happen more and more often, 1 began to tay to see it in the framework, in which it occurred, see it as part ofthe bigger picture. What were the elements, or surrounding ‘elements, ofthe actual moment at which I felt that way? ‘When I could see the depression coming, I tried to see what i ‘vas that was there around me.I tried to see agsn, tried to remem Ther. what had happened the day before, tried to hear once more ‘what had been said and to whom it had been ssid, what I had heard tod fom whom Thad heard When you some rit dam to 1 ‘began to take my depression as an object of curiosity and investign- tion, [stepped back’ from i,t learn its "why” Basically Ieeded to shed some light on the framework in which it was being generated. T began to perceive that it was repeated, slmostidentically—my depression, this lck of interes in the world, this pessimism: that it ‘ceurred more often in the rainy season, and mostly at or around ‘the time ofthe trips I would make to the Zona da Mata to speak in SEST schools to teachers and pupils families on educational prob lems, This observation called my attention to the trips I made with the same objective to the farming zone of the state. But it didat happen in connection with these tips. So it wast trips that were ‘the cause of my depression find it interesting that I can condense into just afew pages the thrwe or four years of search out of the seven during which that moment was repeated: ‘My fist visit tothe ety of Sao Peulo occurred when my search Dappened to be f fll swing, PEDAGOGY OF Hore «29 ‘The day after I arrived, I was in my hotel, that afternoon, and the rain began to pour. I went o'er to the window to peer out at the world outside. Tho sky was black, and it was really coming dawn, But one thing was lacking, in the world that I was observing, by ‘comparison with the pouring rain that would be accompanied with such deep depression, What was missing was green, and mud—the black earth soaking up the water, or the yellow clay farang into the ‘Uppers ei lst, mas that "gas you Ihe a wet big constrictor,” a5 Gilberto Freyre said of massapé, the blac comnts” Frey ‘massapé, the black clay of ‘The dark sky of Séo Paulo that day and the falling rain, had no ‘effect on me whatsoever. Big nad On my return to Recife, I brought with me a mental portrait thet the visit to Séo Paulo had helped me to put together. My depres- sions were doubtless connected to rain, and mud—massapé clay ‘and the green ofthe eane brakes and the dark sky. Not connected ‘to any of these elements in isolation, but to the relationship among them. What I needed now, in order to gain @ clear understanding ofthe experience of my suffering, was to discover the remote frame- work in which these elements had won or had been winning the rey speck depetion At bottom, in seckng forthe deepest “why” of my pain, I was educating my hope. I never expected things Just to “be that wag.” I worked on things, on facts, on my will 1 invented the concrete hope in which, one day, I would see myself delivered from my depression. ‘And so it was that, one rainy afternoon in Recife, under a leaden sky, I went to Jaboatio in quest of my childhood. If i was raining in Recife, in Jaboutio, which was known as the “spout of heaven,” ‘there was no describing it And it was under a heavy rain that T paid my visit to Morro da Saide, where T had lived as a child. 1 stopped in front of the house in which I hod lived—the house in which my fither died fa the lato efternoon of October 21, 1994. 1 sav again the long lawn that stretched before the house atthe time, ‘the lawn we plied soccer on. I saw again the mango trees, their ‘ween fronds I saw my feet again, my nmiddy feet golng up the hill, and me soaked to the skin, Thad before me, as on a canvas, my father dying, my mother fn stupefaction, my family lost in sorrow. ‘Then I walked dawn the hill and went to see ance more certain 30+ PAULO FREIRE areas where, more out of need than for sport, Thad hunted innocent lide birds, with the slingshot I had made myself and with which I became an excellent shot “That rainy afternoon, with the sky dark as lead over the bright sneen land, the ground coaked, I discovered the fabric of my depres- son. [became conscious of various relationships between the signs tnd the central core, the deeper core, hidden within me. Tunvelled the problem by clessly and lacidy grasping its “why.” I dug up the archeology of my pain.® Since then, never again has the relationship between rain, green, and mud or sticky clay sparked in me the depression that had af flicted me for years. 1 buried st, that rainy afternoon I revisited Jboatia. At the same time as Tas strugeling with my personal problem, I devoted myself to SESI soups of rural and urban work: fe, worked on the problem of moving from my discourse about my reading ofthe world to them, and moving them, challenging them, to speak of their own reading. Many of them had possibly experienced the same process I had lived through—that of unraveling the fare in whieh the facts are sven, discovering their “why: ‘Many, perhaps, had suffered, and not just alittle, in redoing their reading of the world under the impulse of a new perception—in ‘which it was not actualy destiny o fate or an inescapable lot that ‘explained their helplesmess as worker, their impotence in the face ofthe defested, squalid body of their companion, and their death for want of resources, ‘Let me make it clea, then, that, i the domain of socioeconomic structures, the most eritical knowledge of reality which we acquire through the unveiling of that reality, does not of itself alone effect a change in reality Tn my case, a Ihave just recounted, the unmasking ofthe “why’ ‘of my experience of suffering was all that vas neoded to overcome ‘4 Trus, Iwas freed from a limitation that actully threatened both ry professional activity and my life in the commonity of my fellow Thomian beings It had come to the pont that Iwas politically limited, a: well. A more eritial understanding ofthe situation of oppression does rot yet liberate the oppressed. But the revelation isa step in the PEDAGOGY OF HOPE - 31 "ht ction, Now the person who as ths new derstanding ean ‘zag in «pla sole fr the ansormaton othe conse contin n which the oppression reals: Hee i wha eas Tn'my ese, was enoush to kro th cn which my arog tad been born i oder to har fa the eee foo Structures, rita perception the fbi, hie dope ‘snot slice to change the data of te prbtem, any tare tne 3Cis enough or the worker to haven min heen of eject to be produc: ta bjt ho be ae Bt the hope of produing the cet ss bast the worker a the hope of remaking the word sponsible nthe sue of cppetied men atd omen. The sewator tnosoloial pte efecto ot le he tnt te ie No one gos aywhere alone, kat of al into exle—not een ‘hore who are ysl slone,vaccompaniet by Emily spots children, parent, rings. Noone emesis or hr world without faving ben taney its roots orth «tem fe sole ary ith othe my tay cl sa eur history, our cake: a memory sometines seater, sometimes sharp and lear, ofthe srs fon hood four adoleeene the reminiscence of someting dian that suddenly san ont Be fore un us, ashy geste, open hand ase lt ne misindestandng 4 sontence, 2 smple sentence posibly ae fegoten by the on wh sd A wonder soln ine tempted and never spe, sve sid in ibibtion ithe fn of Fea ‘ejected mpi lick fconenc ncurses reas refuel ‘We experince, of cours in the vrage we make a tamu a oor soal synthesis of contrasting felnge the hope of mune deliverance from the pers tht srr wre the sence of the inqistor (ether the val edensveneropto or the tetally pate prosestor to whine ip his eh dango sb serine” wll ed i hough more ex) log wy the cxtenso ofthe aml fn the sou a fll eng eng ans wor. one's sol, the set of ones sll ones. the tua in the soa belongs ds the pain th roen eam, opt lost. The danger oe hoe. {ane known ees who bea 52_- PAULO FREIRE uy lee of fritre or two fr thir homes oly aftr fur or Fre yas nee Thc hlhenpty hanes seemed to speak lx fuel ofthe ly toa dita Ind. in ct tht haley ims hot oly seemed wish pea hem of thee ogi to ‘return, but looked as if the movers had just paid a visit and they steve actualy moving back The balemply hone lesened he sent Then of blame thing lf the “ld so" Te ts, perhaps isa Cevsn noe tht Ie often pred ia perabes eded the seo el pred cantly de some sot wo died ther step aod whom they alone eer Se Tw they more so dangeovs gee them, om the oe hand he Scat of sl being pity le and onthe ote, he sens lon oe right to survive, rough atous mes Te miihed their guilt feelings. ded, on ofthe serous problems of te mas or woman nee ‘show to wrest toh end nth flings, ds, exon, real tceumulated lee, wordvews, withthe eaion between & Ted eigen realy on nan oda ested ther coment {Erg whose fname ak hey come ere charged wit ‘ke bottom, the problem i how fo prerere ones Hen in he teship betwen a ndigpnsble ection in thee" some tet anda prvcopation fn nich the orginal cont ha to be Freostted How fo wrestle with th earning waton loving i tourna osali, How fo leat new ays fing, ad ing Sith ther thereby rreoming or erect an nderstandsble enone on the pat othe eed woman or man avast repr the conte oii isan be sti ofasa reference st tot no he long hal as eter than the neon oe. Sometines 1 i aculy better: gt aves, Bowe: Busy i very diel to experience ex, Ive with ll the ferent ening br one's nen or one corny, iy tenes a cert cones tain meals ew ging {Gee ton The ection ging hs todo wth he rnsen- Senco af mely ose otis, ofthe id fr xa, th hich certain companions eed men Octbor 1964 La Pa “Sint justin te to arn sound. Wel be ome fo Christa Thad wie thre aera month ors le more than a month tu the Baan embassy in Br wag rhe Balen era PEDAGOGY OF HOPE + &% ‘ment to deiga to send me the safo-conduct pase without which T should not be allowed to leave. Shortly before, Thad been arrested, and subjected to long interrogations by military personnel who seemed to think that, in asking these questions of theirs, they were saving not only Brazil but the whole world. “Well be home for Christmas” “Which Christmas?” Tasked, with curiosity, and even more sur prise “This Christmas!” they answered, with unshalable certitude. ‘My frst night in La Paz, not yet under the onslaughts of of the altitude sickness that vere to fll upon me the nextday [reflected 4 bit on the education of longing, which figures in Pedagogy of Hope. It world be terrible, I thought. to let the desire to return Ha in ue rte vie ad males lok teething tht appens back home in a fworable ‘nour head a Seppens back way—ereate ad a reality Exile isa dificult experience, Waiting or the etter that never ‘comes because it has been lost, wating for notice af» final decision that never arrives. Expecting sometimes that certain people will ‘come, even going to the airport simply to “expect” ae ifthe verb ‘were intransitive. es mot dio mpriene ele when we make na fit to adopt its space-time critically —accopt i as an opportunity with which we hve Been presented Ih tasty plunge into a new daily realty, without preconceptions, that brings the man ‘or woman in exile to a more historical understanding of his or her ‘own situation. Iti one thing, then, to experience the everyday in the contest of one’s origin, immersed in the habitual fries from Which we can easly emerge to make our investigations, and some thing else again to experience the everyday in the loan context thet calls on us not only to become able to grow attached to this new sonteat but also to take itas an object of our critical refletion, much ‘more than we do our own from a point of departure in our own, arrived in La Paz, Bolivia, in October 1964, and another coup -détat took me by surprise. In November ofthe same year I landed ‘in Arica, in Chile, where I startled my fellow passengers, ax we ‘were making our descent tovard the airport, by alling ut, oud snd strong, “Long live orygen!” [had let an altitude of for thou 4 + PAULO PREINE Ciceapicmete ns eae flame io tind ben bre md with ly pdy ‘without exhaustion. In La Paz, carrying a package, even alittle one, omnes eee Teel meen ene rte oe recta gectit mt sina ela mente ee aie ioe eames Sos nome naereaae ability for life, fears end terrors, doubts, a will to live and love. cs Teac rts tote ee hee ion roan baie Pichi etn memo aoe ae re Sifon ar saraetetns their hopes, their fears, their ledge gotten and being ey eee Sic nme ere ee ae meen spats ue an newocoe aah peloel Sele er ea een tere retorts work oninteneer ot soa cieastenneestorkes Hoeeia cies oops ne eeoes wees ctaairtemacaorc mae cigateen seers ah geetmotemermees their fixorite arguments, more metaphysical than historical, was, fs benaigiemcatmonamrnemed HES i I PEDAGOGY OF HOPE «35 “Never will there be an uprising against the established orden” they said, sure as sure can be, in conversations with us. Lremembera meeting that did not go very well at the home of one ‘ofthese militants, with some thet of them, in which Plinlo Sampaio, ‘Paulo de Tarso Santos." Almino Affonso, and, participated. We argued that the so-called tradition of loyalty on the part of the armed forces to the established, democratic order was not an {immutable quality an intrinsic property ofthe lta, but « mene “historical given,” and therefore that this “tradition” might become Listoriclly shattered and a new process take its place: They aay ure ht Brians in eile ge them te impression of bing exybabies who've had their toys taken aueg” oF “frustrated, helpless children.” There vas no conversing with them. A fw years later the Chilean armed forces devided to change Positions I hope it was without the contribution of any of those with ‘whom we were conversing that night, as Thope as well that none of them had to pay as dearly as thousands of other Chileans did along ‘with other Latin Americans—under the weight of the perversity and cruelty that came crashing down on Chile in September 1973. Tt was not by chance, then, thatthe most backward of the elite, in ‘shor even timid liberal postions stirred threat and fear, frightened {atthe reformist policy of Christian Democracy, which was then re- ‘garded asa kind of middle road, dreamed of the need to put an end ‘wall this bold, too-risky business. Just imagine what Allende's vie- tory meant. then, not only for the Chilean elite, but forthe outsiders ofthe North! visitod Chile tice during the time ofthe Popular Unity govern- ‘ment and used to say, in Europe and in the United States, that anyone who wanted to get a concrete idea of the class strug, as “expressed in the most divergent ways, rally ought to pay a visit to _ Chile: Especially if you vanted to soe—practcally touch with your ‘tands—the tactics the dominant clases employed in the strugsle, and the richness oftheir imagination when it eame to waging a more fective struggle for the resolution of the contradiction betwoen Dower and government, [ would tell my audiences, you relly mist 6 fo Chile. What had happened is that power, a8 fabric of rela ‘tons, decisions, and foree, continued to be the main thing with ‘them, while the government, which was in charge of policy, found 95 + PAULO PREIRE itself being propelled by progressive forces, farees im discord with the others This opposition, this contradiction, had to be overeome, fo that both power and government would be in the hands again. ‘The coup was the solution. And so, even within the Christian Demo- cratic party the Right tended to place obstacles in the way of the democrat poicy of the more advanced echelons, especialy of the yonth. As the process dewoloped, a clearer and clearer tendency to Zadicalization, and breach between the discordant options, =p- ‘peared, precoding a peacefil coexistence between them, either in the party or in society ise. ‘On the outside, the Marrst-Leninist Left, the Communist party and the Socialist party hed their ideological, police, historical, ‘and cultural reasons for not joining inthe euphoria. They regnrded it as lve at best. In step with the waxing and deepening of the class strugule oF

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