Abstract
This chapter explores the dynamic between truth and deceit in twenty-first-century transnational capitalism, emerging neo-fascist movements, and post-truth media landscapes marked by the Covid-19 pandemic and the anthropogenic bioinformational challenge. It establishes the centrality of the concept of truth in revolutionary critical pedagogy and underscores the importance of linking true words with true actions in the formation of critical praxis. Revolutionary praxis consists of the dialectical process of self and social formation, while critical educators are situated as protagonistic agents who work in and through history. Truth is therefore not about a timeless or objective state we name history. Action creates history, humans are historical beings, and truth is firmly situated within the dialectic of history. Using the work of Walter Benjamin, we show that aesthetic entertainment provided by fascist national leaders such as Donald Trump distracts the oppressed from the economic and social forms of oppression, supporting asymmetrical relations of power and privilege that repurposes the dominion of the ruling class. In response, we develop the concept of scallywag pedagogy: postdigital, ontological, epistemological, historical, and revolutionary praxis aimed at ambushing oppressive power relations and transforming the world in the interests of social justice through speaking a true word.
Keywords
- Revolutionary critical pedagogy
- Capitalism
- Fascism
- Postdigital
- Praxis
- History
- Truth
- Scallywag pedagogy
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Notes
- 1.
See, for instance, Special Issue of Postdigital Science and Education, ‘Lies, Bullshit and Fake News Online: Should We Be Worried?’, edited by Alison MacKenzie and Ibrar Bhatt. https://link.springer.com/journal/42438/volumes-and-issues/2-1. Accessed 15 December 2020.
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McLaren, P., Jandrić, P. (2021). Scallywag Pedagogy. In: MacKenzie, A., Rose, J., Bhatt, I. (eds) The Epistemology of Deceit in a Postdigital Era. Postdigital Science and Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-72154-1_12
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