Theory and Resistance in Education: Towards a Pedagogy for the Opposition

Reissued with a new introduction from Henry A. Giroux, this classic work provides theoretical and political tools for addressing how pedagogy, knowledge, resistance, and power can be analyzed within and across a variety of cultural spheres, including but not limited to the schools. The time for radical social change has never been so urgent, since the fate of an entire generation of young people, if not democracy itself, is at stake. Giroux argues that challenge gives new meaning to the importance of resistance, the relevance of pedagogy, and the significance of political agency. In a time of growing fascism, Giroux argues that resistance is not an option but a necessity. The book includes a foreword by Paulo Freire and a preface by Stanley Aronowitz.

Table of Contents:
Foreword by Paulo Freire Preface by Stanley Aronowitz Introduction: Educated Hope, Public Pedagogy and the Politics of Resistance 1. Theory and Critical Discourse 2. Critical Theory and Educational Practice 3. Schooling and the Politics Hidden Curriculum 4. Reproduction, Resistance, and Accommodation 5. Resistance and Critical Pedagogy 6. Ideology, Culture, and Schooling 7. Critical Theory and Rationality in Citizenship Education 8. Literacy, Ideology, and the Politics of Schooling 9. Critical Pedagogy and the Politics of Resistance 10. Cultural Politics and Public Intellectuals in the Age of Emerging Fascism 11. Challenging Gangster Capitalism and the politics of Normalization 12. Lies, Violence, and Fascist Politics Conclusion: Toward a New Public Sphere Bibliography Index

About the Author :
Henry A. Giroux holds the Chair for Scholarship in the Public Interest in English and Cultural Studies at McMaster University, Canada. His books include On Critical Pedagogy, 2nd Edition (2020), Race, Politics, and Pandemic Pedagogy (2021), Pedagogy of Resistance (2022), Insurrections (2023) and Fascism on Trial (2024), all published by Bloomsbury.

Review :
Giroux uses concepts such as ideology, culture, and power to clarify how schools and education serve the interests of a select few in society Giroux offers the educator a hope, and a means, for influencing change. This book [is] of immense importance. Giroux is a first-rate thinker struggling with theoretical problems of incredible difficulty... A provocative book. Theory and Resistance in Education was an instant classic when it first appeared, over 4 decades ago. The years since have only added weight to its analysis and its politics, as we have seen the far right engage artfully and brutally in cultural politics in search of instrumental control of student life. Now, in this revised edition, Theory and Resistance is an instant classic all over again, as Henry Giroux walks, trots, and runs across the prospects and obstacles to a freer time, a fairer world. I first read Theory and Resistance in Education in 1990 and I vividly recall staying up late into the night unable to put it down. It radically transformed my understanding of education and led me to teaching and educational scholarship. The new edition brings Giroux’s groundbreaking critical pedagogical project right up to the most pressing political, cultural, and economic challenges of the present renewing and deepening its original force as a tool for praxis. Theory and Resistance in Education provides the basic tools and tactics needed to resist the dark forces of neoliberalism and fascism in education and society today. It challenges every educator to join in solidarity to fight against those who strive to deny students access to a democratic education and constrain their critical citizenship. Giroux is the leading voice of unconditionally committed and fierce scholarship in an environment where strong voices of dissent are discouraged and threatened. He inspires his readers to believe that there is hope amidst the fearful darkness presently descending upon education. This book is essential reading for anyone who is concerned about the future of democracy and education—and wants to do something about it. This is a classic which brought a sophisticated critical theoretical discourse to education and social theory, while ruffling a few powerful feathers. The book was born in dangerous Reaganite times and continues to be relevant today when Fascist authoritarianism again rears its ugly and terrifying head in the US and elsewhere. The clarion call can be: Liberating [Non-capitalist] Praxis or Barbarism! Marks a significant moment in the development of a radical theory of education.