Pedagogies of freedom: Exile, courage, and reflexivity in the life of Paulo Freire

Abstract

This article contributes to calls for a reflexive ethnography of academic life by examining the relationship between exile and courage in the work of Paulo Freire. I turn to Freire's experience of exile and the role it plays in his critical pedagogy in order to develop a reflexive framework linking scholarly encounters with global politics and different forms of courage. I begin my analysis with a portrait of Freire's life and work, focusing on the distinct elements in his writing that contribute to what I call an exilic reflexivity. I then turn to Freire's writing on conscientization, pedagogy, and the role of ideology in higher education to highlight missed opportunities by international relations (IR) scholarship to engage with alternative forms of existential courage. Freire's approach to education offers IR scholars an opportunity to rethink exile in light of ongoing structural challenges within the political economy of academic life. While Freire was not an IR scholar as such, his work is positioned against similar economic, political, and ideological constraints on contemporary academia, conveying a pedagogy of freedom that remains highly relevant today.