Kapil Dev Regmi

Department of Educational Studies, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada

ABSTRACT

In capitalistic society freedom of individuals for making profits and accumulating wealth is understood as a universal truth. Competition among people equipped with this limited notion of freedom is taken as an inevitable prerequisite for achieving prosperity. The current body of scholarship lacks proper explanation of what makes capitalism so hegemonic that it continuously shapes human beliefs and practices. The paper argues that this limited notion of freedom has shaped our imaginary, thoughts and actions. Few people have benefitted but this imaginary has made our societies increasingly unequal and unjust. The paper conceptualises popular education as an alternative approach not only for critiquing the hegemony of capitalism but also for the creation of a more just society. The paper concludes that “popular education” could provide some useful conceptual tools—mainly conscientisation, problem posing method, study circles, and critical pedagogy—as enabling conditions to critically examine some of the hegemonic assumptions of capitalism intractably embedded in our beliefs and thoughts.

KEYWORDS

Capitalism; inequality; hegemony; popular education; conscientisation

From: International Critical Thought 2016 6 (2)

Editor: Wang Yi