Cultural Action and Conscientization

1970 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 452-477 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paulo Freire

In the May 1970 issue of the Review, Dr. Freire described the adult literacy process as an act of knowing through which a person is able to analyze critically the culture which has shaped him and to move toward reflection and positive action upon his world. Such education in Freire's view is cultural action for freedom, through authentic dialogue rather than for domestication. In this concluding section, the author proceeds to consider the philosophical basis and the social context of his own thought. With specific reference to Latin America, he discusses the emergence of the masses into the political process in the Third World and analyzes the levels of consciousness which characterize that emergence. Finally he discusses the nature and function of a truly liberating education in this period of historical transition.

1970 ◽  
Vol 40 (2) ◽  
pp. 205-225 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paulo Freire

Dr. Freire writes from a Third World perspective, but with obvious implications for education in general. He rejects mechanistic conceptions of the adult literacy process, advocating instead a theory and practice based upon authentic dialogue between teachers and learners. Such dialogue, in Freire's approach, centers upon codified representations of the learners' existential situations and leads not only to their acquisition of literacy skills, but more importantly to their awareness of their right and capacity as human beings to transform reality. Becoming literate,then, means far more than learning to decode the written representation of a sound system. It is truly an act of knowing, through which a person is able to look critically at the culture which has shaped him, and to move toward reflection and positive action upon his world.


1978 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 328-350
Author(s):  
Mare Trachtenberg

That foreign policy is a social product, that it is in particular the outcome of a political process and an element in the national political system—these are general notions that few scholars would in principle dispute. But in practice foreign policy has been commonly portrayed in exactly the opposite way. It is viewed as some-thing with its own life, essentially cut off from domestic politics, existing primarily in the international sphere. Scholars do of course recognize that domestic factors play a role, but the implied connection is often extremely amorphous and general, with no attempt on the whole made to specify the mode of linkage in a concrete and testable way. Thus America's return to isolation after the First World War is commonly attributed to the unwillingness of her people to bear the burden of world power; British and French foreign policy after 1924 is explained in terms of the deep-seated pacifism of the masses. The actual mechanism of linkage is not spelled out. On those occasions when a specific relation is described the very language used often betrays an unwillingness to see it as a legitimate, integral part of a normal political process. Such things as public opinion and party and interest-group politics are seen basically as exogenous forces, “intruding” or having an “impact” on the policy-making system, not as regular parts of it.


The present work, The Struggle of My Life: An Autobiography of Swami Sahajanand Saraswati, is an English translation of Sahajanand’s autobiography, written in Hindi, Mera Jeevan Sangarsh. It carries an introduction by the translator which briefly deals with the Swami’s life and legacy. It needs to be emphasized that this is not an autobiography in the common run. Its primary focus is not on Swami’s persona; its central theme is the cause of the freedom movement in general and in particular, of the peasant movement under his leadership. It tells of the life and legacy of one of the most uncompromising and fearless freedom fighters and peasant leaders. It covers the social and political history of one of the most crucial periods of our national life, 1920–47. Today, when the Indian peasantry is faced with a number of intractable problems, it reminds them of the struggles of the peasants of yesteryears and the kind of trials and tribulations they went through. It is also remarkable that despite his vast learning and command over Sanskrit, Swami chose to write in simple, colloquial Hindi. That only speaks for his total identification with the masses. Both the teaching and student community as well as general readers would find this book useful, interesting and intellectually stimulating.


2020 ◽  
Vol 51 (5) ◽  
pp. 434-449 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mathias Albert ◽  
Felix Maximilian Bathon

This article provides a sympathetic, yet also somewhat critical, engagement with the notion of ‘quantizing’ by exploring substantive overlaps between quantum and systems theory. It is based on the observation that while quantum theory is ‘non-classical’ in its entire world-view, there is a danger that when it comes to the social world it is simply laid on a world-view of that world, which remains at its core ‘classical’. This situation calls for engaging quantum with existing non-classical social theories. Resemblances between quantum and systems theory are obviously given through similarities around the concepts of observation and meaning, whose status and function in both bodies of theory is explored. We then probe the degree to which obvious analogies in fact could be read as overlaps and similarities that could be put to complementary analytical use: in a sense, we argue that systems theory ‘does’ quantum theory, and vice versa. The article concludes with some vistas of this discussion for the field of international relations.


1958 ◽  
Vol 52 (2) ◽  
pp. 260-279 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth S. Carlston

It is the purpose of this article to investigate the status of concession agreements in the light of the rules of international law bearing on the power of a state to nationalize property. It is a continuation of an earlier article which explored the nature and function of the concession agreement in the national and international economies. The first article rested on the assumption that legal rules could not be fully understood or evaluated without a fairly clear understanding of the social facts which they were designed to regulate.


Author(s):  
Kulwinder Singh ◽  
Ravinder Kamboj

Present research is an attempt to study the social, educational and personal causes of adult illiteracy. Qualitative approach was adopted to evaluate causes of illiteracy. Ferozepur district of Punjab (India) was chosen as the region for conducting this study mainly for its low literacy rate and being a border area of Punjab, from where 60 adult respondents were taken as sample. Data was collected by a self-administered interview schedule, which seeks information regarding causes of non-educability. Findings of the study show that lack of parents interest, alcoholism/drug abuse of father and 'early marriage' have been reported as social causes for illiteracy among adults while in educational causes, adult respondents have enlisted three main causes 'school was far away', 'physical punishment' and 'behaviour of teacher not being appropriate'. Poor economic conditions, no source of income, over workload, hesitation and over-aging emerged as personal causes for discontinuation of the literacy process. It has been suggested that intervention programmes should be introduced in border areas to increase participation in adult education programmes and to remove obstacles in getting education.


2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
I Gde Suryawan ◽  
Ida Bagus Komang Sindu Putra ◽  
I Putu Suyasa Ari Putra

<p align="center"><strong>Abstract</strong></p><p> </p><p><em>Murals are one of the alternative media for street visual art / street visual art that functions as a forum for people's aspirations through paintings. The attractiveness of art gives a strong impression, in line with visual communication theory which assumes that the use of art in educational media is very important. One of these forms of art is a mural. The purpose and function of the mural itself is still developing today. The making of murals in early childhood schools is basically a form of utilizing empty space by incorporating educational missions, such as: as a medium for recognizing local cultural values (folklore). Because through folklore, it indirectly represents the social reality that is around us. Thus basically the implicit function of making murals in empty spaces in early childhood schools is to train students' sensitivity.</em></p><p><em>The environment is a factor that can affect a child's imagination. By placing murals on the walls of early childhood schools, apart from functioning as decoration, indirectly has the function of stimulating children's sensitivity to visuals. This visual sensitivity indirectly develops children's imagination. Thus, murals can stimulate the imaginary environment or imaginary world of children that penetrate the developer of their imagination. Art will always develop, which will be the source of ideas in the process of its creation. Like children who are inspired by murals in creating their works. Seeing this, students will be more open and sensitive to the environment around us so that new ideas will emerge fresh and close to us as a source of ideas for creating works.</em></p><p><em> </em></p>


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shamall Ahmad

The flaws and major flaws in the political systems represent one of the main motives that push the political elite towards making fundamental reforms, especially if those reforms have become necessary matters so that: Postponing them or achieving them affects the survival of the system and the political entity. Thus, repair is an internal cumulative process. It is cumulative based on the accumulated experience of the historical experience of the same political elite that decided to carry out reforms, and it is also an internal process because the decision to reform comes from the political elite that run the political process. There is no doubt that one means of political reform is to push the masses towards participation in political life. Changing the electoral system, through electoral laws issued by the legislative establishment, may be the beginning of political reform (or vice versa), taking into account the uncertainty of the political process, especially in societies that suffer from the decline of democratic values, represented by the processes of election from one cycle to another. Based on the foregoing, this paper seeks to analyze the relationship between the Electoral and political system, in particular, tracking and studying the Iraqi experience from the first parliamentary session until the issuance of the Election Law No. (9) for the year (2020).


1966 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 229-240 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. S. Khare

Indian philosophical thought has always attempted to deal with opposite or binary values. However, when faced with contradictions, social scientists try to analyze the form, meaning and function of opposed values in real social situations. The problem of opposed values becomes difficult and anomalous when the culture, at different levels, not only permits oppositions, but simultaneously sanctions them. The data on meat-eating among the Kanya-Kubja brahmans of Katyayan gotra (primarily an exogamous group composed of several lineages) present this type of problem to the social anthropologist.


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