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4Oi z Crit ica|\tf COIIS CI'Of Is Res catch

C2) a particular organization of its domains of power; e.g., struc-tural, disciplinary, hegemonic, and interpersonal" (p. 299). We seekto understand bow oppression is expressed in language and liferac}'reSearcff, and how researchers address the iffier sectionalify of rec-ognized systems of oppression trace/ethnicity, class, gender, andsexual orientation) as well as less recognized forms (language andimmigrant status). The Singularity of the aforementioned catego-ries as identity markers is recast by Collins (2000) as systems of op-pression that intersect and need to be interrogated and anderStoodwithin four domains of power: cl) structural (an organization's laws,policies, and practices), (2) disciplinary (fules/bufeaucfacics), (3) he-gemonic (ideas and ideologies), and (4) interpersonal (lived experi-ences of diSCf imiffatiOn). She summarizes the domains of power thisway: " the StfffCtff f al domain organizes oppression . . . the disciplin-ary domain manages it. The hegemonic domain justifies oppression,and the interpersonal domain influences everyday lived experiencesand the individual consciousness that ensues" (p. 276).

Moreover, Collins (1990, 2000) indentifies three levels at workwithin the matrix of domination: personal biography, social and cul-tural, and systematic. We use her model to examine criticalfy con-scious language and literacy reseafch published between 20()() and2005, and to critique the field as Marcuse (1989) advocated "criticaltheory is, last but not least, critical of itself and the social forces thatmake up its own basis" (p. 72). Our critique seeks to bfoaden andtr ansf orm f uture critically conscious language and litefacy research,

CHAPTER 2

A Historq of the Ideas

Unde_z'nnz-ng CriticalConsciousness

] LID not come with timeless truths.My consciousness is not illuminated with ultimate radiances.

-Frantz Fanon 1967, p. 7

Within the history of ideas, C:T and critical theories are part of theprogeny of critical consciousness. As such, they are part of human-kind.s response to living within changing social, political, and eco-nomic contexts. We believe it is important to acknowledge bOththe roots of and mutes to critical consciousness, as descf ibed brieflyin the Introduction to this book. For convenience, we have subdi-vided the f Dots and routes into Western European, North American,and Central American, acknowledging that geographical locationsare socially constructed and temporal while ideas are fluid and un-bound. The idea of roots and routes is drawn from Hall (1999), whosuggests, "instead of asking what are people's roots, we ought tothink about what are their routes, the different points by which theyhave come to be now; they are, in a sense, the sum of those differ"ences." He adds, "routes hold us in places, but what they don't doIs hold us in the same place. We need to . . make sense of the con-nections with where we think we are then as compared to where weare t/ow" (np). `

We believe that the f 0015 and routes to Cf ideally conscious lafl-guage and literacy research are worthy of exploration. Situating Our

discussion this way helps us address how Fay's (1987) outline of afully developed Cf ilical theory serves to Suppfff t fife status quo.

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76 A Hzstorq of the I deas Ll,ldcrpu mul Cr\ tic aI Co nsc I ous fies s 77

\\'e examine key concepts derived from Marxism found in thework of generations of the Frankfurt School, as well as Gramsci,Fanon, and French sociologists. We also include North AmericanschOlarship and research from early African American scholars. Wefocus on the scholarship of African Americans in part to de-Anglicizenotions of critical consciousness and theorizing. In addition, we dis-cuss, albeit briefly, the Work of community activists to demonstratethe knowledges produced by those who are struggling against op-pression beyond the academy. Finally, we describe the scholarship ofPaulo Freire and Stuart Hall, because of their popular appeal amonglanguage and literacy scholars and educators. This chapter is not acomprehensive history or review of literature, yet the ideas and con-cepts are important for reenvisioning critically conscious languageand literacy theorizing, research, and praxis.

WESPRN EuROPEAN ROOTS AND RouTEs

Marxism is generally the starting reference pOint in Western criticalsocial science texts. In the United States, Marxism has been portrayedas the great evil because of its opposition to capitalism; however, itis a much more complex theory. The roots of Marxism are found inthe writings of Marx {1818-1883) and his close friend and Support-er, Engels (1820189S). They suggested that it is important that theworld not "ignore the individuals and the world conditions which aresources of these ideas" (Arthuf, 1970, p. 79). They also extended thenotion of class oppression, recOgnizing connections among individu-als, ideas, class, and power. Importantly, they maintained that an un-derstanding of the history of social thought requires looking closelyat social relationships, especially the way shifts in power are related topolitical, economic, and social relations. Marx equated the ownershipOf private property with the wealthy (bourgeois) and envisioned aneconomic opposite (proletariat). He placed a great deal of emphasis onhistory, particularly economic, political, and social history, as a way tobetter understand humankind's evolution in the world.

Das I nsiti tut [fir Sozialrorschffng (I nstftute ror Social Research )

The origins of CT can be traced IO the ideas, thoughts, personali-ties, and writings associated with members of The Ifrstiffrte for So-cial Research, which has been called the Frankfurt School Since the

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early 19605 (see Wiggershaus, 1994, for a comprehensive history).Numerous histories denote shifts in the Frankfurt School's empha-sis between the first, second, third, and fourth generations, and alsohighlight changes in theoretical positioning and geographic locales.Our brief overview focuses on the Frankfurt School's initial contribu-tions to Critical TheOry.

The Frankfurt School was established in 1923 in Frankfurt, Ger-many, strategically between World Wars I and II. It was founded as anopportunity for the "reexamination of the very foundations of Marx-ist theory, with the dual hope of explaining past errors and prepar-ing for future action" Uay, 1996, p. 3). The scholars of the FrankfurtSchool variously described their work as social and theoretical ma-terialism, critical theory of society, critical social theory, and criticaltheory. The Cf moniker, according to Wiggershaus C 199 4), was usedas a "camouflage label for Marxist theory" Cp- SJ- The initial focus ofThe Institute was "first and foremost to sen'e in the Study and exten-sion of scientific Marxism" (p. 35)- Individual scholars were advocatesof select Marxist principles; others preferred to focus on the writingsof Kant or Hegel; and still others sought to create new theories. Thefounding members of the Frankfurt School-Walter Benjamin, Er-ich Fromm, Max Horkheimer, Leo Lowenthal, Herbert Marcuse, andTheodor Wiesengrund-Adorno-can be characterized as upper-middle-r o middle-class men of Jewish descent; however, they did not embracetheirJewish or ethnic roots, preferring tO place emphasis on social. cul-tural, and later, poliff cal issues. Other scholars who worked at The In-stitute included Franz Borkenau, Henryk Grossmann, Friedrich Pollack,and Karl and Rose Wittfogel, as well as doctoral students Julian Gum-prez, Kurt Mandelbaum, Paul Massing, and Hilde WeiSs. Wiggerhaus(1994) claims that it was Horkheimer's articulation of the participantssocial and theoretical consciousness that held the group together:

the common task was to produce a theory of society as whole, atheory of the contemporary era, whose subject would be human be-ings as producers of their own historical forms of life-forms of lifewhich had, however, become alienated from them. (p. 6)

Through his vision and management, Horkfreimer was able to con-struct a wOrking relationship and bridge between the social-historicalapproach of The Institute's early years and hfs own interdisciplinaryapproach, which said that the evolution of mankind through historywas driven not only by the economy but also by the social forceswithin society.

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18 O,, C rzf ,cal\fl Conscious Res e arch 79

Iforkffeimef Adorno. and Marcuse fled Germany and lived andworked in Geneva. London, and Paris before rflovirfg to the UnitedStates to avoid the Nazi takeover of Germany. While in the UnitedStates they were far more aware of their ethnic roots, and steadfastlyretained their use of Ger,natl in their writing as a show of supportand in tile hope of returning to a more humane Germany (Jay, 19961.According to Pecora and Irr (2005), Horkheimer and Adorno movedto Los Angeles, California, in 1941, where they worked and collabo-rated with Acermarl. Betfelffeim, arid Janowitz, among others, pro-ducing Strttfies ij Z Pre'jztdice. Other projects undertaken by members ofthe Frankfurt School includef.f studies of womens attitudes towardauthority in the United States studies on the influence of unemploy-ment on authority in the family structure, and analyses of the influ-ence of u nemploymen t . These act ivi ties helped reinforce CT's f ocuson issues of class, and also extended scholarship to race, ethnicity,and ge nder. As Marco Se ( 1 968) argued:

Critical theorys interest in the liberation of mankind binds it tocertain ancient truths. In maintaining that man can be morethan a manipulable subject in the production process of class society

[critical theory} opposes not only the production of relationsthat gave rise to bad materialism, but every form of productiOn thatdominates man instead of being dominated by him, this idealismunderlies its materialism. (p. 153)

Likewise, Bronner (2002) holds that Frankfurt SchOol scholars fe-envisiOrfed Marxism and gave way to "a new emphasis upon 'con-sciousness and the visiOn of a radical transfOrlffatioll of society. Anew concern with the connection between revolutionary theory andpractice made itsell felt" Cp, 6), lie believes that the members of theFrankfurt School theOrized a connection between He'el and Marx andplaced "consciousne ss, as well as the practical role of ideology andreification at the forefront of theory" Cp. 81). One of fife greatest lega-cies of the Frankfurt School is its insistence that we question every in-

stitutiOn and thought that impacts our lives. In doing so, we enhanceour ability to continually discOver new pOssibilitfes for social justice'

Seconcf-Generation Critical Theorists

Second.generation Frankfurt School scholars include OskarNeget, Claus Offe, Karl Otto-Apel, Alfred Schmidt, and AlbrechtWellmer~ The most influential theorist, however, has been \ff'gen

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YlabcrrffaS C 1929-), Adorno's assistant and the philosopher whosought to renew fforkheimers interdisciplinary approach. Haber-mas's scholarship has contributed to the critical project in numerousareas and global arenas. A declared Marxist for (fecades, Habermasseldom references his predecessors from the Frankfurt School, choos-ing instead to engage the ideas of Hegel, Marx, and Kant, while beingcritical of Marx's economic determinism. He also continues CT's evo-lution through reconceptualizing and redefining the critical project.

Tracing !tis thinking helps illustrate his shift in foci. First in hisinaugural lecture at Frankfurt University (1965), he proclaimed that"human interest in autonomy and responsibility . . . is not mere fancy.. . What raises us out of nature is the only thing whose nature we can

know: language. Through its stfucf are, autonomy and responsibilityare posited for us" (quoted in McCarthy, 1978 p. 2871. Second, in hisacclaimed book, Thco cf CO/ff mtnlfof Live ACtiolf , he seeks to re-createHorkehe iffte r's interdisciplinary approach to social theorizing and toestablish a conceptual framework. Third, he posits that a new empha-sis will arise as people develop more communicative action-peoplecoming together freely and agreeing

at tile level of the nature of social subjects, knowledge that makespossible the control of natural processes turns into knowledge thatmakes possible the control of the social life process. In the dimen-sion of labour as a process of prOduction and appropriation. reflec-tive knowledge changes into productive knowledge. (Habermas,1987 p 135)

Finally, focusing on rationality, he claims its importance lies in "howspeaking and acting subjects acquire and use knowledge" CHabermas,1984, p. ll ). In stark contrast to the thinking of many of the fifst-generation scholars, especially those under whom he studied, Hab-errflas seeks to defend and rekindle Enlightenment rationality- Hisproject has been, in part to expand Kant's ideas. In doing so, he hasmade his work both a testament to and a critique of CT. Contempo-rary social theorists believe that Habermas's theorizing has overcomesome of the shortfallS and criticisms of CT.

BEyf;>ND THE FMNKF IlRT SC HCfOL

As an idea, CT also is found in the work of Antonio GfarflscfC 189 1G1937) Frantz Fanon (1925-1961), and French sociolo8ists~

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Cramscian Infjuence

On Cr,.II.ca{{tj Conscious Researcft

Franfz Fallon: A Black Response to Cn.tt.cal Theorizin5

Gramsci, an Italian Marxist, founded the Italian CommunistParty in 1921. He spoke out against oppression from his prison cellin Italy (1926-1937). While imprisoned, he wrote 34 notebooks thatdemonstrate his understanding and application of Marxist theory,especially as applied to political and social issues in Europe in generaland in Italy specifically during the late 1920s-19305. His Prison Note-books also drew upon his personal experiences, struggles, and under-standings of being oppressed, both economically and politically.

Gramsci's ideas of hegemony have distinctive Western Euro-pean roots, inspired in part by Marx and Engels's (1947) position:"The ideas of the ruling class are in every epoch the ruling ideas;i.e., the class which is the ruling material force of society is at thesame time its ruling intellectual force" (p. 39). Gramsci sought todistance himself from Marx's restrictive economic determinism andclass struggle, and to develop a broader theory that illuminates theroles of ideology, politics, and culture in society. His critique of soci-ety, therefore, is not rooted solely in ecOnomics, and is a much moremalleable tool of analysis. He believed that the ruling classes usedinstitutions, including schools, to inculcate their ideology and topresumptively win the consent of the masses, or, in his wOrds, "thefabrication of consent." He believed that the failure of communismwas due to its focus on capitalism, centering on its control throughviolence and coercion. Gramsci's (1971) thoughts about hegemonyshifted over time, and include intellectual, moral, and political he-gemony CFO,gas, 2000). Hegemony has come to mean any form ofdomination that implies power, although more modern ideas alsoPronose that the oppressed can effect change. Hegemony is never

I:rantz Fanon (192S-1961), was born to a mixed-race (Af Tic anTamil, and White/French), lower-middle-class family on the Frenchcolony of Martinique. He was profoundly affected by the racist actsof French soldiers during their stopover in Martinique during WorldWar II. Fanon joined the Free French Forces, was sent to France,and left the army as a decorated war hero. He returned to Martin-ique, completing his undergraduate degree under the tutelage of aCommunist named Aime Cesaire, and Studied Marx and Sartre. Hiswork with Cesaire led him to theorize that Black men were a sourceof labor for White men. From studying Marx, he understood classstruggle, interjecting race and racism; and from reading Sartre helearned to point to the power of language. Fanon (1967) also cri-tiqued Kant, Hegel, and Marx for their misunderstanding Of Blackmen's consciousness: "black consciousness is immanent in its owneyes. I am not a potentiality of something" (p. 13S). He sought tohumanize Black consciousness by arguing, ._f am wholly what I am.I do not have to look for the universal. No probability has any placeinside me. My Negro consciousness does not hold itself Out as a lack.It is. It is its own follower" (p. 135, italics in the original).

Fanon explicitly addressed Western European colonialism andimperialism, and the oppression foisted upon the world at the handsof White men: "it is in the name of the spirit, in the name of thesPirit of Western Europe, that Europe has made her encroachments,that she has justified her crimes and legitimized the Slavery in whichshe holds four-fifths of humanity" (Fanon, 1967, p, 2S2). Because ofEuropean colonialism, Fanon resolutely believed that the educatedcitizenrn needed crl t t c a i rnn`rInl I c mac c t f fit< Tn "` t [ o Tl :& t 1 , 1I 1 . 1 . . ,

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Roots and Routes of Opff)ressionpower elites use language as a tool to inculcate dominant ideolo-gies through speech and literature iff the lives of tile Jess power-ful. Agreeing witfl tills idea, Sartre (1968) wrote in the preface toFanon's The V\'retched of the Earth: _.Not so very tong ago, the earthnumbered two thousand million inflabitants: five tlundrcd millionmen, and one Ill ousand f Ive fl undred million native s . Tff e formerhad t he Word; the others had use of it " (p. 7). Fanon 's th oflgh ts

on colonialis mJpostcofonialiSm; the im port of building, nf Iff urf ng,and sustain! ng a viable critical Consciousness among the oppressed;the Power of language in the hands Of the oppressor; and fife calf to

activism, and even revolt, are found in the wrififlgS of subsequentcritical theorists.

French Sociolobists' Contributions to CT

Several French philosophers and sociologists (Alfffusser, natl. t

driflard, Bourdieu, Derrida, Foucault, and LyOtard) also have addedto critical theorizing- The contributions of Bourdiefr, Foucault andDerrida in particular }lane influenced critical language and literacyresearch. Bourdieu's articulation of the nOtfOn of habitffs suggestsmoving difference f)eyond Social class to include culture. fie saw aneed, as did Fanon, to bridge the binary of of) jecf ive all d sub jective;to understand social dynamics, including capital Ccffffflra}, social ~and symbolic), as well as field, practice, amt reffexivfty. Foucauft'sthinking has informed critical tfleorizing, especially his framework ofsocial flfstory, arcflaeofogy, and genealogy. fie writes that discourse,knowledge/power, and pOststructuralism are important aspects ofcontemporary critical works on the rote of hegemony and dominantideology in society. Derrida's major contribul ions focus on languagedeconStrucff on, and adopting alternative viewpointS.

TuE UNffED STATFSS ROOTS AND RDff"f"Es

We extend the rOOf S of critical f heorizfng by examining some roofsand routes witflifl the United States that add balance f o f radii ionalEurOCentTiC viewpoint s- Oppression is not limited to any particularracial/ethnic group, gender, or class; however we center our discus-siOn on the scho}arstlip of African Americans while also acknowledg-ing the schotarsflip and act iVfSIfl of Of hers.

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Tile United States has a long and disturbing history of racial op-pression against people of African descenf. Millions of people wereforcecf into bondage and slavery at Bance Isfand in Sierra Leone andtaken to Gorre Island in Senegal and ottler African ports of depar_lure. The power Of languages and literacies to liberate thinking andto com m fin !Cate beyOnd tile use of words was recognized as laws wereestablished and enforced that forbade peOple Of African descent touse ttleir knowledges, cuftures languages, literacies, and Other cOm-munfcaf ive systems. To survive, slaves were forced to assimilate andacculturate in accord with their oppressors. Numerous brave Blacksand Willies defied these laws and cust oms, providing fiferacy inst ruc -t loll to slave s amt f reed Blacks. Laws f hat granted citizenship only tofree Willie mate Jandowners made if nearly impossible for people of

Color to progress cconomicafly pOfiffcatty, and socially.

Early on, David Walker ( f 830) cflarged Africans and their progeny

to develop "a spirit of inquiry and investigation respecting our miser_ie s and wref cfledness in th is Rep/ iblic lallif of libe!n,'f (p. 5 italics in theoriginat)' tn an 188 3 spcecf I, Douglass ( 1886) Ll sec} the term "fife colorline in America" to ctlaracterize tile racial hatred that divided the na.lion cPP' 5-8). Autobiographicalty, he recalled his oppressor's reactionto ills ability to read: "A nigger sfloufcf know nothing but to obey hismaster-f o do as he is told to do. . . . ff you teach that nigger , . . flow foread' t here would be no keep iffg him " (p. 49). Douglass u nffersf ood fileImPortance of becoming his "own masfer," or developing and actingwith a critical consciousness (p. 90). <

Visio'la'ies in an Inverfed World; African American Scholars

African American scholars who efnbraced a critical consciousnessinclude Anna Julia (Haywood) Cooper, the mother of Black Feminism;William Edward Burgflarctf C\\',E.B.) Du Bois, a founder of fife Nation.at Association for the Ad\.ancemenf of Colored people (NAACp); andCarter G' WoodSon, file rattler of Negro history. Their scholarshipand social activism fle}ped supply intellectual leadership to AfricanAmericans wflo were seeking social transformation and iusfice, Thendefied ideological and cultural flegemony and cflalfenged the use of"science as "proof" of racial, intellectual, and moral inferiority by draw-ing from broader historical, cultural, and intellectual lineages as weft

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as by highlighting political, economic, social, and racial oppression.Their lives, research, and activism foreshadow critical race theory.

Their scholarship uncovered the ideological and racist ideas thatdominated Western thought and perpetuated the oppression of Afri-can Americans, which was allegedly supported by scientific facts, butmore accurately affirmed social and political prejudices. Cooper (1892)exposed the hypocrisy of the feminist movement that fought forWhite women's rights while ignoring Black women. She also decriedthe rhetoric of African American men, who fOught for the rights of Af-rican Americans but focused on the rights of men. in another example,Du Bois-in his classic sociological study TIze Philadelphia Negro (1899),the first case study of an African American community-situated a his-tory of people of African descent within their lives in contemporarysociety. His findings revealed that the problems of African Arnericaxlswere not genetic or biological, as presumed, but economic. sociologi-cal, and psychological.

Du Bois also used narratives to convey his thinking, as in The Soztfsof Black FoIk (1995(1903), where he prophetically wrote, "the problemof the Twentieth century is the problem Of the color line" (p. xxxi).He knew that the existence of people of African descent, prior to theirenslavement, was missing in U.S. history, as was any discussion of howtheir enslavement in the United States shaped their consciousnesses:

After the Egyptian and Indian the Greek and the Roman, the Teutonand Mongolian, the Negro is a sort of seventh son, born with a veil,and gifted with second-Sight in this American world-a world whichyields him no true self-consciousness, but only lets him See himselfthrough the rcvefation of the other world. It is a peculiar Sensation,this double consciousness, this sense of always looking at one's selfthough the eyes of others of measuring one's soul by the tape of aworld that looks on in amused contempt and pity. One ever feels Iristwo-ness,-an American and a Negro; two souls, two tlfougllts, twounreconciled strivings; two warring ideals in one dark hody, whosedogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder" (pf>. 2-3)

Du BOIS's reference to the veil and second-sightedness marked theAfrican American experience as fundamentally different from theWhite American experience.

Du Bois believed that to apply Marxist theories in the UnitedStates, one must consider the role of race and class oppression un-der caPitalism- lie acknowledged that the white working class in theUnited States stood in opposition to the furtherance of Afrfcall t\zller-

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ic an economic , polit ical, and social gains. He surmised that aJthoughMarxism may be an accurate portra}'al of a history of economic andsocial change in 19111-century Europe, it needed to be modified toaddress the history of economic and social change for African Amen -cans in t he Un fled States.

Final!y, Carter G . Woodson observed and commented on howthe economic and social-relational forces shaped the consciousnessof African Americans: "When you control a man's thinking you donot have to worry about his actions. You do not have to tell him tOstand here or go yonder. He will find his proper place and will stayin it. . . . His education makes it necessary" c IVDodson, 1933, p. xiii).He argued that many African Americans were conscious of the effortsto coerce them into the ways of thinking, worJdvfews and beliefs of\\'hites,' many fought against coercions that questioned their intel-ligence, morals. and humanity. Woodson argued that what appearedto be a consensual response to the lack of education and educationalopportunities by African Americans was not consent, hut an illusioncreated by a coerced response of an oppressed people. He believedthat race is central to understanding African American consciousnessand life experiences in the United States:

The same educational process which inspires and stimulates the op-Pressor with fife thought that he is el'erything and has accomplishedeverything worthwhile, depresses and crushes at the same time the>Park of genius in the Negro by making him fee) that hfs race doesnot amount to much and never will measure ufr to the standards ofothers. ( \\'oodson, 1933, p. xiii)

\\'c>c)c[$orl exPlained that education was shaped by ideological hege.molly to neutralize pedagogical and curricular decisions i,e., thferelational forces that made possible and acceptable chattel slavery,discrimination and segregation, and physical violence (fynching,`murders' nfutilatfoxls, rape), and sifzffujfaneOfzfSfy kept, or limited, dis.cussions of oPPression enacted by fife United States offt of historl'hooks' Ile felt strongly that the U.S. svsteflf of education was stfffc"..lured to coerce all Americans to see ,lirfcan Americans as inferior toWhites, whether that inferiority was based on "science," history, ormorality' and to extol the achievements of Whites. To that end, hecreated avenues for the publication of Negro lliStOr\' and books thatcelebrated the accomplishments of African American-s.

Collectively, these scholars dcmonstrated through their lives, re..search' and aCtil'isfff that the ideologies, values, and beliefs field and

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promoted by their oppressors must be challenged. They understoodthat economic oppression is insufficient to capture every form of op-pression experienced by African Americans.

ALTERNAT\ YE u.s. Rocms

In the mid-2Oth century Black and White freedom fighters demon-strated their resistance to social injustices. Among the many fear-less workers against class and racial oppression were Myles Horton{1905-1995) and liberation theologists.

Myles Horton, a White male, was the founder of the HighlanderFolk School (renamed in 1961 to the Highlander Research and Edu-cation Center) in New Market, Tennessee. Ills life of poverty andhis study of Marx and Lenin encouraged him to fight against allforms of oppression, protesting for workers' rights and participatingin the civil rights movement (desegregation, voter education, andvoter registration) to transform society. Horton t1998) believed thatcritical consciousness was necessary for social and political progressas people "learn to value their own experience, to analyze their ownexperience, and to know how to make decisions" (p. 57). lie offeredliteracy programs designed to teach African Americans to read andwrite in order to pass literacy tests and thereby gain the right tovote.

Horton organized literacy programs by enlisting Septima Clark,a South Carolina schoolteacher and freedom fighter, who calledupon her niece, Bernice Robinson, to lead the program. Robinsont aught Af rican American adults by ask i fig t he Ill to tell fler a storythat she wrote down and asked them to read. She used t Ire interestsof t he adults to teach them to read, and many I>assed the literacytests. Horton (1998) rec ailed, "along with becolll frig Ii tera te, theyle arne d to organize, t hey [came d to protest , t hey learned to cleft laud

their rights, because they also learned that you couldn't lust readand write yourself into freedom" (p. 104), Life and learning at tffeHighlander Folk School was unapologetically interracial. Ilorfolldeclared, "to make life worth living you have to believe i l1 thoseth ings that will bring about justice in society, and be willing to dfefor them" (p. 27).

Liberation theology is a form of critical consciousness based onChristian beliefs that seeks to end the suffering in the world. It identi-fieS God's compassion for oppressed people as a starting point, fin-

limited by history. geography, or denomination. Believers envisageliberal ion t heolog>' as an expression of their faith and duty to activateChrist lan t heology on Earth because-in an uncertain world-Godis fail hf ul . ] hey look I o Christ as I.ifre rator c a secular label); in theHoly Bible, Christ is named Adl-Ocate. Deliverer, Good Shepherd. andSavior. I.iberatioff theologists draw support from scripfural referencesto the needs of the poor (Leviticus 25:3S-38; Luke 1:51-53, 4:1618)and Of t he oppressed ( Isaiah 6 11-2 and James 5:1 -61 . They carry theirmessage to the masses through social and political activism.

The critical theological consciousness of ,'\frican American Chris-tians is without a single historical beginning point. It is infOrmed bythe works of IV. B. DuBofs, NI. Garvey, F. Grimke, N. Turner, and C.G. Woodson, among others. As early as 1902, ex-slave Grfmke de-clared, "God is not dead, nor is he an indifferent onlooker at whatis going on in this world. . Justice may sleep, but it never dies"(quoted in IVoodson, 1942, p- 3541. Black Liberation Theology (BLT)evolved during the civil rightS movement as the nexus of Black Powerand Black Christianit>~ grounded in liberation theolOgV. , the Black re-ligious experience, and the struggle for freedom~ BLT embodies God'senduring and everlasting compassion, lovingkindncss, trustworthi-ness. mercy, and grace, with a particular emphasis on spiritual andmoral consciousnesses.

Proponents of BLT include James if" Cone (I938). Benjamin E.Mays tlS9 4-199 4) , Martiff Lilt her King Jr. t 1929-19681, Malcolm Xi i 925-1965 ), ~'\ dam C . Powell Sr. ( 1865-1953) , and Adam C. Powell Jr.{1908-19721, 3mong others. Cone (1970), a leader in the field and oneof its most prolif ic writers, believes that White Christians, activists, andpolific.II leaders oppo)sed the idea of dividillg Christianity into a Black/White binar>~ and promoted the idea that Christianify is universal andcolor-blilld. Proponelfts of BLT argue that such universalisf ideas are acontinuation of a I\'hite interpretation of the Bible, a IVhife Inabilft}~to see /loll- IVh lies as human. the irreconcilable suffering of people ofColor at the hands of Whites in the name of "iustice," and the incul-cation of doominant ideologies that impeded self-actualization amongpeople of Color. BLT continues to addless human suffering tflrOughofftthe world and to promote an appreciation of African American hf`tof-yand culture, brotherhood. freedom. hope. liberation, love, and socialjustice. Moreover, BLT resists capitalism, poverty, and dominating ide-ologies lilac promote human suffering.

Garcia (1987) explains the uniqueness of liberation theology wit b-in Latindad, noting concern with "contributing to each Other's work

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so it might be Of service to the church and the formation of ministersseeking to serve our community" (p. 216). A similar act! \'isl perspec liveis evinced by the life and work of Paulo Freife, whose connection toliberation theology is reflected in his commitment to Catholicism andwork with the World Council of Churches (he served as an educationalconsultant while exiled in Geneva, Switzerland). Gadotti (1994) arguesthat Freire's ideas fall within "a progressive conception of theology andthe social and political role of the church . . . especially in Latin Ameri-ca and defends the involvement of Christians in the struggle for libera-tion" (pp. 170171). The critical consciousness of Paulo Freife also hasbad a tremendous impact on language and literacy research.

PAIzLO FREmE: fHEORy, LlTERACy, AND PEDACOGY

Paulo Reglud Neves Freire's {1921-1997) life, scholarship, and com-mitment to critical consciousness and activism have been capturecfin numerous texts (Freire, 1995, 1996; Gadotti, 1994; A. Freire &Macedo, 1998). Frelre (1996) recalled two life-changing momentsthat helped shape his political and pedagogical ideas- First, he ob-served t hat th e economic and social condit ions t isat t`auset! I fl e

oppre s sed t o fe ar were dest ructive-relational f orce s kept t he op-pressed depende n t on their oppre sso r s and dom inated their bodiesand every moment of their Jives. He believed that oppression is eco-nomically, politically, and socially cOnstituted. Second, as directorof the Industrial Social Se rvice (SESl ), a program initially designed toeducate Brazils rural labor force, he embraced and taught the powerof dialogic pedagogy. Freire recOgnized a gap between the educationoffered by the state and the educatiOn the poor needed lo makeinformed, purposive, and proactive decisions. Further, he observedthat the educational system is a key componen t u sed by power elitesto retain power and status and to dominate or control the thinkingof the masses through the instruction of sterile currfcllfums. Thecentral idea of Freire's work, one that he believed is fundamental forsocial change, is co/fscientizaao. The concept evolved over time. Forexample, in 1967, he declared:

Every relationship of domination, of exploitation, of oppression, isby nature violent, whether or not the violence is expressed by drasticmeans~ In such a relationship. dominator and dominated alike arereduced to things-the former dehumanized by an excess of Power,the !alter by the lack of it. tFreire, 2002, p. lOf)

Freire identified three stages, or levels, Of cri t ical con scion sneSs: ( j }

seJfJ i -'in tram sit inc con sciousJless ( !!mite d consciousness ) , c2 J na j I,etransit ivffy la simple t rust iffg alt itude t oward reaJifyJ, and ( 3) criticalIran sit ivffy ( i rf di l'idtJal a ml cri t !cal aware Mess of prOblems, and t heabiJity to enf' a'e in cl ialogue in search of solfzt ions} in 1 97 I , (;re ireurlderpla>.ed the Jar xist Ol.e rt ones, describin g co/fscle,Iti zado as

arr act of knowing, if our understanding of this act is a dialecticalone~ The re f ore, t`o' ist-it.tzti"tll,-t7() can not be either all act of transfer_ence of knowledge, nor arr intelk_ctUaj game. but rather-let us re_peat-a real act of knowing what deff"fands praxis. |Jibe processof conscie'lfizu170 which does not pass through the urJl'eifing of real_ity to fife practice of it s t fans furmation, is a process which becomesfrustrated. Ip. f)

In 1996, Freife revealed that his focus on class was purpcseful--an at-tempt to counter <lorn iflazlf ideologies. Later he extended the concept toinclude "awareness of the historical. sociopolftical economic, cultural.and subjectil.e reality that shapes our lives, arld our ability to transformthat reaJft"}."' (Freire, 1998, p. 3403. To hreak the stranglehold Ol'er fileminds of the oppressed, he argued that people need to become criticalll.conscious, descrf bing the evolution of cuviscie,Itizi If""t";fo as an in telfectual-iourney. He wrote, "Being conscious is a radical form of being, ofbeing lluJJlarl. Jt pertains to beings (flat not only know, but know thatthey know" (P- Freire &- M acedo, ! 987, p . 127 ). As Gramsci and Fanonalso suggested, humankind needs to develop a "critical spirit" (Freife,2002, P' 7). Freire's ideas about consciousness, alienation, oppression,Power, and resistance mirror Fallon's emphasis on the need to developconsciousness ( self critical, and col Icctive); apprecia te one .s cult fire, fife

righ t to one's language, and the import ance of ed ucatforl and liferacl'for the nJasses; and support social arld political actfl'iSfJl. There alsoare Poifl ts of difference, as Far loll expressed concern about the role ofdominant ideologies in misrepresenting and stereotyping the "Otfler,"esPecialfy the cultures of the people of African descent, whereas Freire Isoften criticized for not addressing and opposing racism more openly,

STLIh RT HAL L: LI TE RA ART IC fl LAT IO N, A ND COA_J"M tLNl CAT IO N

British Cultural Studies, inspired by farxist and Gramscian think_ifJg, surfaced in the early 19605, ill part as a response to tfle needsand Ill.es Of tfle \vorkiffg classes. The Birmingham School of Thong ht.

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Off (rtItca{|tl CO,tsCtOc4S Re.Scarc17

founded by Stuart Half. Richard Hoggartf E. P- Thompson, and Ray-mond Williams, evolved into the Cerltre for Contemporary CulturalStudies CCCCS) under the leadership of Hoggart at the University ofBirmingham. The name change reflects CCCS's study of language andits effects on popular culture. During Hall.s tenure as director CCCS'sfocus shifted to understandif1g the struggle over meaning in the livesof oppressed groups. Hall a Jamaican national, also sOught to under-stand how racial, ethnic, and national groups make meaning, espe-cially how they make meaning that is in opposition to mainstreamrepresentations. Hall's work focuses on how these groups struggle tore-name and re-present themselves in oppositioJl to popular imagespromoted by the power elites through the media~ He appreciates andaccounts for the systems Of knowing that both the seOder and firereceiver use in making meaning possible. He also envisages knOwl-edge as multiple and complex, not singular or simplistic. Further, fieprovides a structure that suggests how ideological and cultural hege-monies moved from the abstract to the concrete and how they workin real time and space {flail, 1970).

]tall's (1982) definition Of ideo/o and his understanding of he-gemony inform his theorizing He defines ideOla ' as " mental frame-works- the languages, t he concepts, categories, !wagery of thought,and the systems of representation-which different classes and socialgroups deploy in order to make sense of , def ine. f igure out and renderintelligible the way society works" (p. 26). If e suggest s that the "ptob-lem of ideology" can become a material force, where language can beused to amass or support power and domination. His ideas dismissthe call for universal approaches to knowing because he believes theyignore how knowing can only offer situated and temporal explana-tions at best. His notion of theoretical inadequacy punctuates howhegemony: ( I) iden t if ies !radii Iona! historical approaches and expla-nations of the past, and c2) explains the failure of dominant concepts,definitions, and models as explanations for the Underserned.

PcoPlc of Color is not mentioned in the writings of Kant , Hegel, a I

:\ tar\f as well as their successors. Unlabeled oppression, howevernonelheless oppressive- The distinctive US roofs and routes of Crcal theorizing inClUcfecl in this chapter emphasize the experiencespeoPle of Color, women, and the intersection of multiple oppressiorOur discussion of their critical theorizing, though limited, evfncthe struggfe for social justice, equality, and democracy.

We briefly reviewed the way Freire's notion Of co,Iscie,/ffza('and I tall.s understanding of ideology and hegernony explicate hcpeoF>Ie make meaning, how meaning-making is informed by cultuand language, and how every human beirfg has the right to cormunicate in ways that are culturally and linguistically authentic arappropriate.

\\'e hal-e considered movements within criticality and U,S. hitory where race and gender oppressions were marginalized as weas their current tcntrality. Specifically, the critical theorizing of tffPast which ignored race/ethnicity and gender, found that these Samforms Of oppressiOn dOminate current crfticalify and are extended tinclucfe articulations of multiple and intersecting oppressions. MotimPortantfy, the scholarship and the voices of the oppressed are intcgraf to new understandings of criticality.

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