Pedagogy of the Oppressed

In the final chapter of Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Freire analyzes the opposing theories of cultural action that develop from the oppressor and revolutionary perspectives. The oppressor employs various tactics in the cultural sphere to sustain his dominance; the revolutionary counters these tactics with forms of action that promote the liberation of the oppressed. Revolution requires a theory of action that gives the oppressed a fundamental role in the process of achieving liberation. The leaders of the revolution must allow the oppressed to take full responsibility in the struggle, and this entails that the people’s praxis necessarily involves their critical reflection as well as action. The dominant elite also employ a theory of cultural action to preserve their dominance and prevent the oppressed from challenging it.

Freire defines cultural action as a “systematic form of action which operates upon the social structure . . . with the objective of preserving that structure or of transforming it” (179). The oppressor’s need to conquer others underlies all the forms of his cultural action. The oppressor’s action is “antidialogical,” since by means of it the dominant elite impose their will upon the weak in the effort to reduce them to silent submission and acceptance of the social order.