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Towards a Transformational Political Concept of Love in Critical Education

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One of the great problems of history is that the concepts of love and power have usually been contrasted as opposites—polar opposites—so that love is identified with a resignation of power, and power with a denial of love. … What is needed is the realization that power without love is reckless and abusive, and that love without power is sentimental and anaemic. Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice, and justice at its best is love correcting everything that stands against love. (Martin Luther King 1990, p. 247).

All the great movements for social justice in our society have strongly emphasized a love ethic. (Hooks 2000, p. xvii).

Abstract

This paper makes a case for love as a powerful force for ‘transforming power’ in our educational institutions and everyday lives, and proposes that ‘revolutionary love’ serves as a moral and strategic compass for concrete individual and collective actions in critical education. The paper begins by reviewing current conceptualizations of love in critical education and identifies the potential for further theorization of the concept of love. It continues by theorizing love as a transformational political concept, focusing on six different perspectives about love; love as an emotion, love as choice, and love as response, love as relational, love as political, and love as praxis. The paper concludes by discussing what “transforming power” with a “loving revolution” could mean for educators who engage with critical education.

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Acknowledgments

This article was partly funded by the Academy of Finland (264370).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland

    Maija Lanas

  2. Open University of Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus

    Michalinos Zembylas

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  1. Maija Lanas
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  2. Michalinos Zembylas
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Correspondence to Maija Lanas.

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Lanas, M., Zembylas, M. Towards a Transformational Political Concept of Love in Critical Education. Stud Philos Educ 34, 31–44 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11217-014-9424-5

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