We must choose one of the two ways we see the world. So, if oppressors exist, we are either oppressors. The oppressed people are aware that they have been oppressed. They learn a new method of learning by reading Pedagogy of the Oppressed. They are valued and become participants. The problem is that few oppressors consider themselves oppressors. Freire’s statement is true or false, but labeling someone as an oppressor is no compliment. Who wants to oppress? Freire’s answer is: “For an oppressor, it is worth having more–always having more–even if that means the oppressed have less or nothing”.
Nobody wants to oppress anyone. It is difficult to give up something once you have it. In most wealthy countries, excessive consumption is a sign of oppression. We can say “I don’t oppress anyone” and still not consider the situation of the vast majority. Open Veins, by Galeano, and Freire’s Pedagogy Of The Oppressed both deal with poor and persecuted people. Both books present intriguing ideas on how individuals can be freed. I’m now examining my consumption of material items. What would the cost of my computer be if I had received a similar level of training and provided the same human services as those who built it? The same question can be asked about my food, clothes, and other items in my house. Freire develops a hypothesis for “cultural change” or what individuals do to affect social change. Freire divides social action into “dialogical” and “antidialogical” actions.
The anti-dialectic theory of action is characterized by conquest, division and manipulation, which serve oppression. Dialogical theory is a liberating force. Its characteristics include collaboration, unity, organization and culture synthesis. Collaboration is one form of network-based liberation. This process is not achieved by a contrasting messianic leader. Instead, it occurs through collaboration, when a group of people communicate and convey with each other to accomplish a shared objective, which is to find themselves, and to discover the world. This occurs when the majority and leader share a common trust to achieve a progressive practice. This requires an open and honest dialogue between all members. A union is necessary to achieve a common effort towards freedom. This type of social action teaches adherence without becoming an ideological metaphor. This is not a misrepresentation of the event, but rather a depiction of it as if it were genuinely a human movement.
It is important to have a well-organized dialogical process in order to prevent it from being controlled by ideology. It is important to organize in order to be able do progressive work. This requires knowledge and understanding of both activity and practice. Both oppressed and oppressors should be cautious about blindly following the leadership of a leader who is a radical. Freire’s return at the book’s end to its beginning, the “central issue” of humanity, is a mirror of what he said in the book.
