From ‘therapeutic’ to political education: the centrality of affective sensibility in critical pedagogy

doi:10.1080/17508487.2011.536512

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From ‘therapeutic’ to political education: the centrality of affective sensibility in critical pedagogy

Journal Article•DOI•

From ‘therapeutic’ to political education: the centrality of affective sensibility in critical pedagogy

Sarah Amsler¹•Institutions (1)

Aston University¹

04 Jan 2011-Critical Studies in Education (Taylor & Francis)-Vol. 52, Iss: 1, pp 47-63

TL;DR: In this paper, critical theories of subject transformation together with new work on pedagogies of discomfort are brought together to create new ways of opening up possibilities for critical education that respond to neoliberal subjectivities without corresponding to or affirming them.

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Abstract: While the need for humanising education is pressing in neoliberal societies, the conditions for its possibility in formal institutions have become particularly cramped. A constellation of factors – the strength of neoliberal ideologies, the corporatisation of universities, the conflation of human freedom with consumer satisfaction, and a wider crisis of hope in the possibility or desirability of social change – make it difficult to apply classical theories of subject-transformation to new work in critical pedagogy. In particular, the growth of interest in pedagogies of comfort (as illustrated in certain forms of ‘therapeutic’ education and concerns about student ‘satisfaction’) and resistance to critical pedagogies suggest that subjectivty has become a primary site of political struggle in education. However, it can no longer be assumed that educators can (or should) liberate students’ repressed desires for ‘humanisation’ by politicising curricula, pedagogy or institutions. Rather, we must work to understand the new meanings and affective conditions of critical subjectivity itself. Bringing critical theories of subject transformation together with new work on ‘pedagogies of discomfort’, I suggest we can create new ways of opening up possibilities for critical education that respond to neoliberal subjectivities without corresponding to or affirming them.

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Journal Article•

The New Imperialism

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Aaron Pollack¹•Institutions (1)

Clark University¹

01 Apr 2005-Investigaciones Geográficas

TL;DR: This article argued that the British Empire was a " liberal" empire that upheld international law, kept the seas open and free, and ultimately benefited everyone by ensuring the free flow of trade.

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Abstract: From a world history perspective, the most noticeable trend in the history of the late 19th century was the domination of Europeans over NonEuropeans. This domination took many forms ranging from economic penetration to outright annexation. No area of the globe, however remote from Europe, was free of European merchants, adventurers, explorers or western missionaries. Was colonialism good for either the imperialist or the peoples of the globe who found themselves subjects of one empire or another? A few decades ago, the answer would have been a resounding no. Now, in the wake of the collapse of the Soviet Union, the more or less widespread discrediting of Marxist and Leninist analysis, and the end of the Cold War, political scientists and historians seem willing to take a more positive look at Nineteenth Century Imperialism. One noted current historian, Niall Ferguson has argued that the British Empire probably accomplished more positive good for the world than the last generation of historians, poisoned by Marxism, could or would concede. Ferguson has argued that the British Empire was a \" liberal \" empire that upheld international law, kept the seas open and free, and ultimately benefited everyone by ensuring the free flow of trade. In other words, Ferguson would find little reason to contradict the young Winston Churchill's assertion that the aim of British imperialism was to: give peace to warring tribes, to administer justice where all was violence, to strike the chains off the slave, to draw the richness from the soil, to place the earliest seeds of commerce and learning, to increase in whole peoples their capacities for pleasure and diminish their chances of pain. It should come as no surprise that Ferguson regards the United States current position in the world as the natural successor to the British Empire and that the greatest danger the U.S. represents is that the world will not get enough American Imperialism because U.S. leaders often have short attention spans and tend to pull back troops when intervention becomes unpopular. It will be very interesting to check back into the debate on Imperialism about ten years from now and see how Niall Ferguson's point of view has fared! The other great school of thought about Imperialism is, of course, Marxist. For example, Marxist historians like E.J. Hobsbawm argue that if we look at the l9th century as a great competition for the world's wealth and …

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2,001 citations

Journal Article•DOI•

Archaeologies of the Future: The Desire Called Utopia and Other Science Fictions

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Susan McManus¹•Institutions (1)

Queen's University Belfast¹

01 May 2007-Contemporary Political Theory

495 citations

Journal Article•DOI•

Therapy Culture: Cultivating Vulnerability in an Uncertain Age.

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Raj Persaud

27 Nov 2003-BMJ

TL;DR: In Therapy Culture he argues that the language and sentiment of psychotherapy have now spread outside the confines of the clinic, widely infecting society at large, leading to a “unique sense of powerlessness” in people's psychology.

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Abstract: Frank Furedi is professor of sociology at the University of Kent, Canterbury. He is also, perhaps, the nation's best known sociologist, partly as a result of popular books such as Therapy Culture , which has been extensively reviewed in the national press. In Therapy Culture he argues that the language and sentiment of psychotherapy have now spread outside the confines of the clinic, widely infecting society at large. As a result emotional vulnerability has become the defining feature of people's psychology, leading to a “unique sense of powerlessness.” Furedi questions the widely accepted thesis that psychotherapy as an ideology represents an enlightened shift towards emotions. But is it really the case that people didn't feel powerless before? We do, however, live in apparently peculiar times. Tony Soprano, head of America's favourite television gangster family, goes to a therapist. American girl scouts can now get a badge in …

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300 citations

Journal Article•DOI•

An Essay on Liberation

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William J. Gavin

01 Aug 1970-International Philosophical Quarterly

TL;DR: From the combination of knowledge and actions, someone can improve their skill and ability as mentioned in this paper. This is why, the students, workers, or even employers should have reading habit for books.

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Abstract: From the combination of knowledge and actions, someone can improve their skill and ability. It will lead them to live and work much better. This is why, the students, workers, or even employers should have reading habit for books. Any book will give certain knowledge to take all benefits. This is what this an essay on liberation tells you. It will add more knowledge of you to life and work better. Try it and prove it.

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212 citations

Journal Article•DOI•

Theorizing “Difficult Knowledge” in the Aftermath of the “Affective Turn”: Implications for Curriculum and Pedagogy in Handling Traumatic Representations

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Michalinos Zembylas¹•Institutions (1)

Open University of Cyprus¹

01 Jun 2014-Curriculum Inquiry

TL;DR: In this article, the authors make an argument that affect theory enables the theorization of difficult knowledge as an intersection of language, desire, power, bodies, social structure, materiality, and trauma.

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Abstract: This essay draws on the concept of “difficult knowledge” to think with some of the interventions and arguments of affect theory and discusses the implications for curriculum and pedagogy in handling traumatic representations. The author makes an argument that affect theory enables the theorization of difficult knowledge as an intersection of language, desire, power, bodies, social structure, materiality, and trauma. To show the possibilities of this theorization of difficult knowledge, the essay puts in conversation Judith Butler's work on vulnerability, affect, and grievable lives with scholarship on difficult knowledge. The essay leans on Butler's work and affect theory to make a political and pedagogical intervention into the terrain of learning and acting in the face of difficult knowledge. This intervention offers a conceptual, curricular, and pedagogical way out of dilemmas of representation and it is rooted in a political project of social action that does not disavow the psychical problema...

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151 citations

Cites background from "From ‘therapeutic’ to political edu..."

...Thus, for example, the desire for empowerment and resistance cannot be taken for granted as a “natural resource” for critical pedagogy (Amsler, 2011); rather, the affective tensions around issues of empowerment and resistance must be placed at the heart of any pedagogy that engages with difficult…...
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...Thus, for example, the desire for empowerment and resistance cannot be taken for granted as a “natural resource” for critical pedagogy (Amsler, 2011); rather, the affective tensions around issues of empowerment and resistance must be placed at the heart of any pedagogy that engages with difficult knowledge (Zembylas, 2013a, 2013b)....
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References

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Book•

A Brief History of Neoliberalism

[...]

David Harvey

01 Jan 2005

TL;DR: The Neoliberal State and Neoliberalism with 'Chinese Characteristics' as mentioned in this paper is an example of the Neoliberal state in the context of Chinese characteristics of Chinese people and its relationship with Chinese culture.

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Abstract: Introduction 1 Freedom's Just Another Word 2 The Construction of Consent 3 The Neoliberal State 4 Uneven Geographical Developments 5 Neoliberalism with 'Chinese Characteristics' 6 Neoliberalism on Trial 7 Freedom's Prospect Notes Bibliography Index

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10,062 citations

Journal Article•DOI•

A Brief History of Neoliberalism

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Simon Springer

01 Jan 2007-Journal of Peace Research

8,455 citations

"From ‘therapeutic’ to political edu..." refers background in this paper

...…disrespect and that channels self-actualisation through narrow corridors of possibility ‘appeals to our intuitions and instincts, to our values and desires’, even to the extent that it becomes ‘so embedded in common sense as to be taken for granted and not open for question’ (Harvey, 2007, p. 5)....
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...The literature on each of these points is now prolific; however, for work on the polarisation of inequality see Harvey (2007); on the ‘mediapolis’, Silverstone (2007); on new forms of exclusion, Waquant (2007); on de-democratisation, Brown (2003); and on the corporatisation of higher education, see…...
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Book•

The Sociological Imagination

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Charles Wright Mills

01 Jan 1959

TL;DR: The sociological imagination is a sociological vision, a way of looking at the world that can see links between the apparently private problems of the individual and important social issues as discussed by the authors.

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Abstract: C Wright Mills is best remembered for his highly acclaimed work The Sociological Imagination, in which he set forth his views on how social science should be pursued Hailed upon publication as a cogent and hard-hitting critique, The Sociological Imagination took issue with the ascendant schools of sociology in the United States, calling for a humanist sociology connecting the social, personal, and historical dimensions of our lives The sociological imagination Mills calls for is a sociological vision, a way of looking at the world that can see links between the apparently private problems of the individual and important social issues Leading sociologist Amitai Etzioni brings this fortieth anniversary edition up to date with a lucid introduction in which he considers the ways social analysis has progressed since Mills first published his study in 1959 A classic in the field, this book still provides rich food for our imagination

...read moreread less

7,700 citations

Book•

Powers of Freedom: Reframing Political Thought

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Nikolas Rose

01 Jan 1999

TL;DR: Powers of Freedom as mentioned in this paper is an approach to the analysis of political power which extends Foucault's hypotheses on governmentality in challenging ways and argues that freedom is not the opposite of government but one of its key inventions and most significant resources.

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Abstract: Powers of Freedom, first published in 1999, offers a compelling approach to the analysis of political power which extends Foucault's hypotheses on governmentality in challenging ways. Nikolas Rose sets out the key characteristics of this approach to political power and analyses the government of conduct. He analyses the role of expertise, the politics of numbers, technologies of economic management and the political uses of space. He illuminates the relation of this approach to contemporary theories of 'risk society' and 'the sociology of governance'. He argues that freedom is not the opposite of government but one of its key inventions and most significant resources. He also seeks some rapprochement between analyses of government and the concerns of critical sociology, cultural studies and Marxism, to establish a basis for the critique of power and its exercise. The book will be of interest to students and scholars in political theory, sociology, social policy and cultural studies.

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5,627 citations

"From ‘therapeutic’ to political edu..." refers background in this paper

...…own theory of the pedagogy of discomfort is not particularly ‘radical’ or transformative, as it is often located in ‘cramped spaces within a set of relations that are intolerable, where movement is impossible, where change is blocked and voice is strangulated’ (as cited in Rose, 1999, p. 280)....
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Book•

Education for critical consciousness

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Paulo Freire

01 Jan 1973

TL;DR: The Pedagogy of the Oppressed as mentioned in this paper is the main statement of Freire's revolutionary method of education, which takes the life situation of the learner as its starting point and the raising of consciousness and the overcoming of obstacles as its goals.

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Abstract: 'Freire combines a compassion for the wretched of the earth with an intellectual and practical confidence and personal humility...Most of all he has a vision of man.' Times Higher Educational Supplement Paulo Freire (1921-97) was an educationalist based in Brazil and became the most influential writer and thinker on education in the late twentieth century. His seminal work Pedagogy of the Oppressed has sold almost 1 million copies. Education for Critical Consciousness is the main statement of Freire's revolutionary method of education. It takes the life situation of the learner as its starting point and the raising of consciousness and the overcoming of obstacles as its goals. For Freire, man's striving for his own humanity requires the changing of structures which dehumanise both the oppressor and the oppressed, rather than therapy.

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5,428 citations

"From ‘therapeutic’ to political edu..." refers background or result in this paper

...For critical exchanges between Marcuse and Erich Fromm, see Fromm (1956) and Rickert (1986). 7. This is a moderate claim in comparison to, e.g., Frank Furedi’s (2004) arguments that we live in a pervasive ‘therapy culture’; the analytical robustness of the latter has been questioned by Brownlie (2009). 8....
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...For critical exchanges between Marcuse and Erich Fromm, see Fromm (1956) and Rickert (1986). 7....
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...In To have or to be?, for instance, Erich Fromm (1976) wrote that under ‘normal’ conditions, ‘human beings have an inherent and deeply rooted desire to be: to express our faculties, to be active, to be related to others, to escape the prison cell of selfishness’ (p. 103).10 He also argued that our affective character can be shaped otherwise by any socio-economic system that requires it (Rickert, 1986, p. 360)....
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...For critical exchanges between Marcuse and Erich Fromm, see Fromm (1956) and Rickert (1986). 7. This is a moderate claim in comparison to, e.g., Frank Furedi’s (2004) arguments that we live in a pervasive ‘therapy culture’; the analytical robustness of the latter has been questioned by Brownlie (2009). 8. In his 1937 essay on the ‘affirmative character of culture’, Marcuse argued that while the rise of the individual in bourgeois culture afforded new theoretical possibilities for happiness and creative development, the avenues afforded for realising them in the capitalist system were unequal. Aesthetic pleasure, happiness and self-fulfilment were available for the bourgeoisie, while the exploited classes were offered only their promise (Marcuse, 1968b). 9. The distinction between responding to epistemologies and emotional responses and corresponding to or affirming them is laid out by Marcuse (1942/1998) in an early essay on fascist subjectivities. 10. For more about Fromm’s psycho-social theory of human need and desire, see John Rickert’s (1986) excellent discussion of Escape from freedom (1941/1994), Man for himself (1947/2003) and The sane society (1955/2001). 11. Nikolas Kompridis (2006), for example, has observed that ‘the legitimacy and validity of the humanities and the arts are undermined ....
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...For critical exchanges between Marcuse and Erich Fromm, see Fromm (1956) and Rickert (1986). 7. This is a moderate claim in comparison to, e.g., Frank Furedi’s (2004) arguments that we live in a pervasive ‘therapy culture’; the analytical robustness of the latter has been questioned by Brownlie (2009). 8. In his 1937 essay on the ‘affirmative character of culture’, Marcuse argued that while the rise of the individual in bourgeois culture afforded new theoretical possibilities for happiness and creative development, the avenues afforded for realising them in the capitalist system were unequal. Aesthetic pleasure, happiness and self-fulfilment were available for the bourgeoisie, while the exploited classes were offered only their promise (Marcuse, 1968b). 9. The distinction between responding to epistemologies and emotional responses and corresponding to or affirming them is laid out by Marcuse (1942/1998) in an early essay on fascist subjectivities. 10. For more about Fromm’s psycho-social theory of human need and desire, see John Rickert’s (1986) excellent discussion of Escape from freedom (1941/1994), Man for himself (1947/2003) and The sane society (1955/2001)....
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