The Oppressed, 'Oppressors And Revolution'

the world in light of existential situations of an oppressed community, relating the forces of

Freire begins Chapter 2 of Pedagogy of the Oppressed by stating his interpretation of the educational system between teacher and student, focusing primarily on the “banking” system, which is exceptionally biased due to oppressive teachers who direct their own misguided inquiries upon their oppressed students. Freire continues on by maintaining “knowledge is a gift bestowed by those

Chapter 2 of Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed discusses a failed teaching method between the student and teacher. It’s a common mistake for teachers to treat the teaching process as a “banking concept”. Freire discusses how this concept takes away creativity from students by forcing them to memorize facts as the teacher “deposits” them into their minds. It’s not expected of the student to comprehend what they’re learning. It’s expected of them to take what the teacher is saying as fact without critically thinking about the meaning behind it. Freire explains,

Freire shifts his focus to talk about the current consciousness state of the students. The consciousness of the students is the key to keeping them oppressed, by being able to change their consciousness it makes the students easier to control.

What defines power in today’s society? Is it money? Privilege? Status? In Chapter 2 of Justice And The Politics of Difference, entitled “The Five Faces of Oppression,” Iris Marion Young offers a unique perspective on what power really is in modern day society and how oppression plays a role in it. According to Young, power is the result of having a concrete societal position that grants you respect and opportunities from people (A page would be nice right here.). However, Young argues that this “power” is so reliant upon your perceived status and worth from individuals, that if lacking these things, you then become vulnerable to oppression. Oppression

Language is common in the world it is the way humans communicate and relate to things with one another.Language is a powerful tool in the world because it can give power to people and can be used to manipulate through renaming people,stereotyping a person and using a euphemistic approach in addressing a person.

The oppressor is dominant, powerful, and unified. The oppressor is disadvantaged, weak, and divided. Often times in the healthcare system, the oppressor appears to be the for-profit corporations, investors, and government to name a few. Similarly on the other end of the spectrum, the oppressed are regularly identified as the poor, minorities, and those that are underprivileged. Sadly, these descriptors are typically accurate in the United States and the world abroad. Freire identifies characteristics of the oppressor as selfish, manipulative of others, abusive of power, and fails to recognize others as humans. He describes characteristics of the oppressed as denying the self, prevented from being authentic, and as being exploited and manipulated without realization (Butts & Rich,

The October revolution is established to be a social revolution that was enacted through the leadership of Vladimir Lenin. It has evidently proven to be a voluntarist revolution through the methods used to gain power. In this essay, the following will be looked upon, first, the comparative aspect and critical analysis of structural theory, and how it does not fit the components of the October revolution. The essay will look at both the voluntarist and structural theory, however, it will emphasize the importance and relevance of the voluntarist perspective. Second, the essay will focus on the argument proving that the October revolution is voluntarist. The October revolution demonstrates a voluntarist structure through the leadership of Lenin

In this essay I shall try to find whether the Terror was inherent from the French revolutions outset or was it the product of exceptional circumstances. The French revolution is the dividing line between the Ancien Regime and the modern world. After France the hierarchy that societies of the time had been founded on began to change and they began to sweep away the intricate political structures of absolute monarchy, but however to achieve this was the Terror absolutely necessary? And was it planned/ or was it just the extraordinary circumstances, which the French had lead themselves into once they had deposed of Louis the

Oppression suppresses individuals or groups using power to maintain what can be seen as social place within a society. Keeping groups or individuals at a level where their rights are restricted below those of the suppressor due to things such as race or sex. Enforcing inequalities upon those who have none or limited means to fight for equality. Oppression keeps people within a restricted existence where they are unable to improve their situation due to restrictions imposed by the oppressor.

“The story of post-revolutionary America,” writes Rosemarie Zagarri, “is the story of how American women and men sought to define – and ultimately to limit and restrict – the expansive ideals they had so successfully deployed against Britain.” In this excerpt from Revolutionary Backlash, Zagarri depicts the extreme radicalism of the American Revolution, while also suggesting that there were some constraints to its extremism. Unlike the normal way of life in European government and society, Americans desired a nation in which the inherent rights and freedoms of individuals were recognized and respected. While these rights and freedoms were ultimately achieved, many groups of people were still left out. Women of all kinds, people of color,

Oppression is the foundation of revolution. Injustice fuels revolutionary fervor in the oppressed. In the eyes of the colonists, the British oppressed the colonists. In the late Eighteenth Century, increased taxation and restrictions imposed by the British were intolerable actions. Many colonists saw these actions as unjust and oppressive. Increased political restrictions and economic exploitations resulted in increased revolutionary fervor. The oppression of the colonists during Britain’s seemingly tyrannical reign led to the American Revolution. Colonists were outraged by Britain’s disregard of the British Constitution displayed by taxes and restrictions. . Economic acts implemented by the British resulted in other complaints regarding the circumstances under which the acts were implemented. In other words, the American Revolution was comparatively not about money. Although America’s problems with Britain were seemingly economic, colonists cared more about political power and independence than taxation itself. Grievances expressed by colonists mostly reflected the a lack of representation, the minimization of colonial self-government, and the deprivation of rights. Consequently, the American Revolution was caused by British economic and political policies that led to unfavorable colonial opinions of the 18th Century British government.

Only in the end of his essay does Freire focus more on his own system, and explain its privileges without resorting to the faults of the currents system, but even then he uses the latter tactic several times. The essay ends on a political note, calling the new revolutionaries to realize what the name they call themselves means, and to change the current ways not only on the outside, as they have done before, but also internally to make radical changes to their philosophy and their ideas about education. This concluding device stirs up some doubts as to the point of the whole essay. It might seem from the author’s concluding point that the underlying purpose of the essay was not to expand on the more beneficial ways of education, but to criticize the ways of political leaders in his, or some other country. Nevertheless, the rest of the essay shows little evidence of such a plot, and this point is at best marginal.

One major link includes the fight between an oppressed group and their persecutors. Whether it’s the proletariat and the bourgeois in “The Communist Manifesto,” or the inequality of genders in “The Second Sex,” or the flight of the African Americans in the “Letter from Birmingham Jail”. In all of these texts we are shown how easy it is for one group to abuse their power and create unfair rules and regulations only imposed on the more inferior members of society. Each group of oppressor thrives off of alienating, and subjugating their inferiors.

The Theatre of the Oppressed is a form of theatre that uses a variety of games/exercises that seek to help people and communities to find solutions to problems and create greater harmony within groups. Augusto Boal, a Brazilian director, created it in 1973, however had the inspiration for it during the 1960s when he would invite audience members to stop performances and suggest different actions for the actors to carry out. Legend holds that at one of these performances, a woman was so irritated that the actor could not understand what she meant that she went on the stage and acted it out her self. Thus was born the spect-actor; a term that Boal used to describe audience members who would come on stage and act out the movements as they saw it should be. In doing this, he discovered that audience members had the power to not only imagine change, but also carry it out, creating an ability within them to reflect this idea of change within society and to view theatre not as a spectacle but as a language to be used. He was then exiled to Argentina because of this work, where he wrote his first major text, ‘The Theatre of the Oppressed’. He then moved to Paris where he continued to teach, establishing many Centres for the Theatre of the Oppressed.