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The Marxification of Education: Paulo Freire's Critical Marxism and the Theft of Education
Education is in bad shape in America and beyond today. It’s obvious. Everyone perceives it. Something is going badly wrong in our schools. Our children aren’t learning as they should be. Their mastery of core academic curriculum like reading, writing, history, mathematics, science, and civics has declined to crisis levels and shows no signs of improvement. Meanwhile, they’re all learning to be activists, turning their backs on their nations, societies, and even their parents and religions. Instead of correcting course, school curricula keep veering into “social and emotional learning (SEL),” Critical Race Theory, cultural competence, culturally relevant education, Queer Theory, Radical Gender Theory, Comprehensive Sexuality Education, decolonizing the curriculum, and even drag queens. What’s going on? The answer is simple. Their education has been stolen from them. Activists have spent the last forty to fifty years taking over education and transforming it into something different: not mere indoctrination but brainwashing. The transformation of education from education to neo-Marxist thought reform follows significantly from the work of a Brazilian Marxist by the name of Paulo Freire, who is little-known outside of South America and colleges of education. In this book, The Marxification of Education, James Lindsay, founder of New Discourses, breaks down the contents and impact of Freire’s disastrous work so that you can understand it and, hopefully, put a stop to it.
210 pages, Paperback
First published December 6, 2022
340 people are currently reading
813 people want to read
About the author
James Lindsay
10 books420 followersJames Lindsay is an author, internationally recognized speaker, and the founder and president of New Discourses. He is best known for his relentless criticism of "Woke" ideology, the now-famous Grievance Studies Affair, and his bestselling books including Race Marxism and Cynical Theories, which has been translated into over a dozen languages. In addition to writing and speaking, Lindsay is the voice of the New Discourses Podcast and has been a guest on prominent media outlets including The Joe Rogan Experience, Glenn Beck, Fox News, and NPR.
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January 23, 2023
Marxification of Education – Paulo Freire’s Critical Marxism and the Theft of Education
James Lindsay, ©2022, 194 pages
A short Book Report by Ron Housley (1.24.2023)
Who is Paulo Freire? Freire is the force behind what James Lindsay describes as the “Marxification” of education which has transformed all of our schools during the last 40 years. The “take-over” of our schools is apparently complete and comprehensive and possibly irreversible, according to the story that unfolds in this little book.
Those were the same 40 years during which I conducted my own career, years when my attention was not focused on the quiet transformation taking place in education. Paulo Freire and his minions were apparently able to infect the entire education establishment from K through Ph.D., were able to rewrite or replace most of the textbooks in most of the subjects, were able to dominate the federal Department of Education, were able to install sympathetic members to school boards all across the nation, were able to capture tenured positions in all of the colleges of education. They were doing it under the radar, and their influence was metastasizing at an alarming pace.
And then something happened: George Floyd was murdered at the height of the pandemic lockdowns and his murder triggered a “critical Theory” explosion of street protests in cities across the nation. Questions were asked about why there was so much tolerance for the unprecedented surge in violence.
At the same time, classrooms were forced into the students’ homes via Zoom, and parents got their first glimpse of what their children were actually being fed every day. Questions were asked about why schools all across the country were supporting curricula which seemed to be encouraging racism among the students.
That’s how it came to the public’s attention that “critical Theorists” might somehow be pulling the strings, orchestrating fundamental changes throughout the culture, both on the streets and also in the classroom. The changes appeared to be about the ideas we were adopting to make basic decisions, including decisions about what is true or not.
CRITICAL THEORIES IN ACTION
Ideas from the ivory tower academics inspired the Critical Race Theory activism of the 2020 BLM riots; they were behind the rise of racist DEI (Diversity-Equity-Inclusion) requirements being imposed upon educational institutions and corporations; they were behind the ESG (Environmental-Social-Governance) requirements being imposed on productive corporations.
And, these academic “critical” Theorists were ultimately exposed as the force behind the new school curricula which seemed to actually be promoting racism in the schools — under the imprimatur of Critical Race Theory.
Education professionals defensively responded that Critical Race Theory was NOT actually being taught, as such, in the schools — in spite of accusations leveled by angry parents at school board meetings across the country. But these educators, in their effort to deflect angry public protests, carefully avoided any mention of the fact that they were systematically implementing all of Critical Race Theory’s tenets, beliefs and action plans, but without teaching the Theory as an actual subject. It was true that they were not “teaching” CRT in the schools; but they were “doing” CRT in the schools.
Far more than just attitudes of racism were at play here, it turned out. Racism just happened to be the one thing that caught the attention of angry parents at school board meetings. But the curriculum, now under the parental microscope, also included Critical Gender Theory as well as the whole gamut of critical Theories which told students that America was illegitimately founded and that America spawned every sort of oppression in its 250 year march through history. Students were taught that America was evil from its inception.
WHY CALL IT “MARXIFICATION”
The question comes up: what is the connection of all this with Marx? In today’s context, calling someone a Marxist has the same inflammatory ring as calling someone we don’t like a “Nazi” just because he has one view in common with Hitler. So why does Lindsay call what’s happening “the Marxification of Education?” The answer has to do with modern-day Marxists’ obsession with what they call “the problem of reproduction,” and it has to do with the goals and methods of a Marxian approach.
THE PROBLEM OF REPRODUCTION
The neo-Marxists of the 20th century were baffled by the unsolved problem of reproduction, by which they meant a system which reproduces itself, which trains its students to embrace the existing values, rather than to embrace a system attacking itself in order to foment revolution into Marx’s next stage of history.
Paulo Freire was on the front line of solving the problem of reproduction by substituting “political literacy” in place of real literacy ---- where his success is manifested by students protesting the current system on the state house steps, even though they could not read at grade level. Students were trained in “political literacy” but not in real literacy. The activism of their new-found “political literacy” was supposed to be the force that Freire needed to finally solve the problem of always reproducing the old system of values. The new activism would finally attack and destroy the old, existing values.
Prior to Paulo Freire, the critical Theory neo-Marxists (spearheaded by Herbert Marcuse) were bemoaning the perpetuation of the current system because the system’s abundant prosperity had destroyed forces which could have fomented revolution. And thus the old system would be reproduced, i.e., the Problem of Reproduction.
The main point of James Lindsay’s book is to describe the process by which Paulo Freire was able to, over a short few decades, entirely revamp American education into a system based on challenging the entrenched values, in favor of revolutionary Marxist views which damned capitalism, liberty, individualism, science, reason and rational thought itself.
Important parts of the culture began to embrace a certain skepticism about whether objectivity and truth could any longer be determined. The front cover of Time Magazine (April 3, 2017) read: “Is Truth Dead?” Time Magazine’s accompanying story took the question seriously(!), contending that reason may no longer be the standard in determining truth.
A founder of BLM (Patrisse Cullors) openly bragged: “We are trained Marxists.” Until Lindsay’s book I didn’t quite grasp what she actually meant. What she meant was that BLM was just one cog in the wheel which Paulo Freire had set spinning in the country’s classrooms. The spinning wheel is the movement of the culture away from reason and liberty and into a culture of unreason and collectivism. Marx just happened to be the historical figure who popularized the idea of “communism” and who launched the campaign against individualism; and who now had a century and a half of faithful followers. Paulo Freire was one of those followers.
Marx fantasized about a stateless communist utopia as the final stage of history which all his prescribed activism was aimed toward. The current crop of neo-Marxists fantasized not the dictatorship of the proletariat, but the dictatorship of the antiracist. Marx dreamed about seizing the means of production; Freire dreamed about seizing the means of educational production.
This is the thesis of Lindsay’s book. It is a compelling thesis, not a mere conspiracy theory. We are seeing the results of today’s Freire activism on the nightly news: we see Drag Queen Story Hour hyped as legitimate discourse, not as a way to sexualize children; we see equity replacing equality everywhere; we see racism implemented as the antidote to racism; we see riots routinely called “peaceful protests;” we see the claim that “silence is violence;” we see teachers accepting students who identify as a “furry animal” instead of a human student. We see no meaningful philosophic pushback to any of it. It was as if basic philosophy had been unilaterally cancelled and replaced by a fantasy they’d gotten the majority of academics and educators to adopt, as if some entirely new mental process had been discovered. It may very well be that the Marxification of the schools has been a frightening success.
INTEGRATING A VAST LITERATURE
James Lindsay’s is an enormous feat of integration: he has translated deliberately obscure books and academic papers into clear meaning; he has identified and traced common threads from diverse writers; he has chosen a wide selection of academic authors from a span of decades. He has tackled a vast literature in the social sciences and humanities and has given us an understanding that few of us could have figured out on our own. Anybody who can tease out clarity in Marcuse, Derrida, Foucault and Freire should have our admiration. (I have read each of these academic Theorists and reading them was no picnic.)
WHERE WE ARE TODAY
In the end what happened was that the “sixties radicals” (street protestors) made their way into the classroom, and quietly took over education. Bill Ayres was not an anomaly. They got their Ph.D.s, studied their historical Marxism, engaged with neo-Marxist critical Theory, and developed postmodernist and poststructuralist approaches to mistreating language itself. In the end they were able to convince large segments of the population that sex didn’t have anything to do with biologic identifications. They were able to convince large segments of the population that racial oppression (and not individual productivity) was responsible for our civilization. They were able to get politicians, journalists and other academics to agree that capitalism itself was racist and had to be dismantled. They were able to get Time Magazine to seriously question whether truth itself were dead.
* * * * * * *
Lindsay’s book on education connects the dots among the various manifestations of Marx’s influence all around us, including: DEI requirements for institutions; ESG scoring for investment; The 1619 Project as the “face” of Critical Race Theory; The Zinn Project, to reframe American history as the story of oppression; SEL (Social-Emotional Learning), as the means to groom students to demand sustainability and equity; SDG (Sustainable Development Goals) in the k-12 curricula; BLM, of ANTIFA in the streets.
Not only does Lindsay connect the dots, but he gives us a glimpse into the horrors forming up on our doorstep. The effects of the “new education” are beginning to show up in our daily lives and in the halls of Congress. He brings new meaning to the sentiment, “I weep for my grandchildren.”
At this writing (Jan 2023), it seems that few are aware of what’s happening right under our noses. Thank you James Lindsay for shedding light on a dark subject.
James Lindsay, ©2022, 194 pages
A short Book Report by Ron Housley (1.24.2023)
Who is Paulo Freire? Freire is the force behind what James Lindsay describes as the “Marxification” of education which has transformed all of our schools during the last 40 years. The “take-over” of our schools is apparently complete and comprehensive and possibly irreversible, according to the story that unfolds in this little book.
Those were the same 40 years during which I conducted my own career, years when my attention was not focused on the quiet transformation taking place in education. Paulo Freire and his minions were apparently able to infect the entire education establishment from K through Ph.D., were able to rewrite or replace most of the textbooks in most of the subjects, were able to dominate the federal Department of Education, were able to install sympathetic members to school boards all across the nation, were able to capture tenured positions in all of the colleges of education. They were doing it under the radar, and their influence was metastasizing at an alarming pace.
And then something happened: George Floyd was murdered at the height of the pandemic lockdowns and his murder triggered a “critical Theory” explosion of street protests in cities across the nation. Questions were asked about why there was so much tolerance for the unprecedented surge in violence.
At the same time, classrooms were forced into the students’ homes via Zoom, and parents got their first glimpse of what their children were actually being fed every day. Questions were asked about why schools all across the country were supporting curricula which seemed to be encouraging racism among the students.
That’s how it came to the public’s attention that “critical Theorists” might somehow be pulling the strings, orchestrating fundamental changes throughout the culture, both on the streets and also in the classroom. The changes appeared to be about the ideas we were adopting to make basic decisions, including decisions about what is true or not.
CRITICAL THEORIES IN ACTION
Ideas from the ivory tower academics inspired the Critical Race Theory activism of the 2020 BLM riots; they were behind the rise of racist DEI (Diversity-Equity-Inclusion) requirements being imposed upon educational institutions and corporations; they were behind the ESG (Environmental-Social-Governance) requirements being imposed on productive corporations.
And, these academic “critical” Theorists were ultimately exposed as the force behind the new school curricula which seemed to actually be promoting racism in the schools — under the imprimatur of Critical Race Theory.
Education professionals defensively responded that Critical Race Theory was NOT actually being taught, as such, in the schools — in spite of accusations leveled by angry parents at school board meetings across the country. But these educators, in their effort to deflect angry public protests, carefully avoided any mention of the fact that they were systematically implementing all of Critical Race Theory’s tenets, beliefs and action plans, but without teaching the Theory as an actual subject. It was true that they were not “teaching” CRT in the schools; but they were “doing” CRT in the schools.
Far more than just attitudes of racism were at play here, it turned out. Racism just happened to be the one thing that caught the attention of angry parents at school board meetings. But the curriculum, now under the parental microscope, also included Critical Gender Theory as well as the whole gamut of critical Theories which told students that America was illegitimately founded and that America spawned every sort of oppression in its 250 year march through history. Students were taught that America was evil from its inception.
WHY CALL IT “MARXIFICATION”
The question comes up: what is the connection of all this with Marx? In today’s context, calling someone a Marxist has the same inflammatory ring as calling someone we don’t like a “Nazi” just because he has one view in common with Hitler. So why does Lindsay call what’s happening “the Marxification of Education?” The answer has to do with modern-day Marxists’ obsession with what they call “the problem of reproduction,” and it has to do with the goals and methods of a Marxian approach.
THE PROBLEM OF REPRODUCTION
The neo-Marxists of the 20th century were baffled by the unsolved problem of reproduction, by which they meant a system which reproduces itself, which trains its students to embrace the existing values, rather than to embrace a system attacking itself in order to foment revolution into Marx’s next stage of history.
Paulo Freire was on the front line of solving the problem of reproduction by substituting “political literacy” in place of real literacy ---- where his success is manifested by students protesting the current system on the state house steps, even though they could not read at grade level. Students were trained in “political literacy” but not in real literacy. The activism of their new-found “political literacy” was supposed to be the force that Freire needed to finally solve the problem of always reproducing the old system of values. The new activism would finally attack and destroy the old, existing values.
Prior to Paulo Freire, the critical Theory neo-Marxists (spearheaded by Herbert Marcuse) were bemoaning the perpetuation of the current system because the system’s abundant prosperity had destroyed forces which could have fomented revolution. And thus the old system would be reproduced, i.e., the Problem of Reproduction.
The main point of James Lindsay’s book is to describe the process by which Paulo Freire was able to, over a short few decades, entirely revamp American education into a system based on challenging the entrenched values, in favor of revolutionary Marxist views which damned capitalism, liberty, individualism, science, reason and rational thought itself.
Important parts of the culture began to embrace a certain skepticism about whether objectivity and truth could any longer be determined. The front cover of Time Magazine (April 3, 2017) read: “Is Truth Dead?” Time Magazine’s accompanying story took the question seriously(!), contending that reason may no longer be the standard in determining truth.
A founder of BLM (Patrisse Cullors) openly bragged: “We are trained Marxists.” Until Lindsay’s book I didn’t quite grasp what she actually meant. What she meant was that BLM was just one cog in the wheel which Paulo Freire had set spinning in the country’s classrooms. The spinning wheel is the movement of the culture away from reason and liberty and into a culture of unreason and collectivism. Marx just happened to be the historical figure who popularized the idea of “communism” and who launched the campaign against individualism; and who now had a century and a half of faithful followers. Paulo Freire was one of those followers.
Marx fantasized about a stateless communist utopia as the final stage of history which all his prescribed activism was aimed toward. The current crop of neo-Marxists fantasized not the dictatorship of the proletariat, but the dictatorship of the antiracist. Marx dreamed about seizing the means of production; Freire dreamed about seizing the means of educational production.
This is the thesis of Lindsay’s book. It is a compelling thesis, not a mere conspiracy theory. We are seeing the results of today’s Freire activism on the nightly news: we see Drag Queen Story Hour hyped as legitimate discourse, not as a way to sexualize children; we see equity replacing equality everywhere; we see racism implemented as the antidote to racism; we see riots routinely called “peaceful protests;” we see the claim that “silence is violence;” we see teachers accepting students who identify as a “furry animal” instead of a human student. We see no meaningful philosophic pushback to any of it. It was as if basic philosophy had been unilaterally cancelled and replaced by a fantasy they’d gotten the majority of academics and educators to adopt, as if some entirely new mental process had been discovered. It may very well be that the Marxification of the schools has been a frightening success.
INTEGRATING A VAST LITERATURE
James Lindsay’s is an enormous feat of integration: he has translated deliberately obscure books and academic papers into clear meaning; he has identified and traced common threads from diverse writers; he has chosen a wide selection of academic authors from a span of decades. He has tackled a vast literature in the social sciences and humanities and has given us an understanding that few of us could have figured out on our own. Anybody who can tease out clarity in Marcuse, Derrida, Foucault and Freire should have our admiration. (I have read each of these academic Theorists and reading them was no picnic.)
WHERE WE ARE TODAY
In the end what happened was that the “sixties radicals” (street protestors) made their way into the classroom, and quietly took over education. Bill Ayres was not an anomaly. They got their Ph.D.s, studied their historical Marxism, engaged with neo-Marxist critical Theory, and developed postmodernist and poststructuralist approaches to mistreating language itself. In the end they were able to convince large segments of the population that sex didn’t have anything to do with biologic identifications. They were able to convince large segments of the population that racial oppression (and not individual productivity) was responsible for our civilization. They were able to get politicians, journalists and other academics to agree that capitalism itself was racist and had to be dismantled. They were able to get Time Magazine to seriously question whether truth itself were dead.
* * * * * * *
Lindsay’s book on education connects the dots among the various manifestations of Marx’s influence all around us, including: DEI requirements for institutions; ESG scoring for investment; The 1619 Project as the “face” of Critical Race Theory; The Zinn Project, to reframe American history as the story of oppression; SEL (Social-Emotional Learning), as the means to groom students to demand sustainability and equity; SDG (Sustainable Development Goals) in the k-12 curricula; BLM, of ANTIFA in the streets.
Not only does Lindsay connect the dots, but he gives us a glimpse into the horrors forming up on our doorstep. The effects of the “new education” are beginning to show up in our daily lives and in the halls of Congress. He brings new meaning to the sentiment, “I weep for my grandchildren.”
At this writing (Jan 2023), it seems that few are aware of what’s happening right under our noses. Thank you James Lindsay for shedding light on a dark subject.
May 18, 2023
There are times when deep down in your gut you know something is wrong. When you can point out each individual thing that seems strange, but you can't quite put all the words into the big picture. Well, this book helped do that.
As a teacher (I am never going to use the word 'educator' again) and potentially future former teacher, so much of the dialogue in this book was horrifying familiar.
Working in a large urban school district -- screw it, I'm calling them out by name. Denver Public Schools -- the Marxist-Maoist language of Freire was used in every training I was forced to attend. And if you didn't buy into the language and ideology, a 'struggle session' ensued whether with the administration or even peers. It was truly maddening and made me incredibly cynical because I knew what they were doing was wrong and didn't make sense, but I just couldn't put my finger on the exact methods of what was happening specifically beyond the general Maoist technique.
From SEL to QT to especially CRT (both versions) based on the demographic of the school in which I worked, I saw it all and heard every jargoned term used in this book. And over and over again I just heard myself saying 'wow.'
This should be mandatory reading for teachers, though I worry most of them are too far gone down with Liberation Theology indoctrination that they physically could not understand or reflect on this book. For teachers that do sense something is wrong, read this book to educate yourself (in the original sense of the word). Learn the enemies tactics, and if need be, use their own methods against them as you build anew.
As a teacher (I am never going to use the word 'educator' again) and potentially future former teacher, so much of the dialogue in this book was horrifying familiar.
Working in a large urban school district -- screw it, I'm calling them out by name. Denver Public Schools -- the Marxist-Maoist language of Freire was used in every training I was forced to attend. And if you didn't buy into the language and ideology, a 'struggle session' ensued whether with the administration or even peers. It was truly maddening and made me incredibly cynical because I knew what they were doing was wrong and didn't make sense, but I just couldn't put my finger on the exact methods of what was happening specifically beyond the general Maoist technique.
From SEL to QT to especially CRT (both versions) based on the demographic of the school in which I worked, I saw it all and heard every jargoned term used in this book. And over and over again I just heard myself saying 'wow.'
This should be mandatory reading for teachers, though I worry most of them are too far gone down with Liberation Theology indoctrination that they physically could not understand or reflect on this book. For teachers that do sense something is wrong, read this book to educate yourself (in the original sense of the word). Learn the enemies tactics, and if need be, use their own methods against them as you build anew.
January 9, 2023
Lindsay's assessment of what's wrong with American education is a kin to a doctor assessing a patient who's been shot and determining the patient would recover if he were only shot a few more times.
August 11, 2023
brilliant book
I am Brazilian and moved to the US almost 10y ago. One of the reasons that motivated my move was to provide better education for my children. I was also interested in homeschooling which is not allowed in BR. After a few years in the US and around the time my oldest was about to start Kindergarten, I had grown uncomfortable enough with the public school system. I couldn't bring myself to enroll her at our “outstanding” public school district in the Philly burbs. She went briefly to a private school, but I was not happy with that either. Now we homeschool.
Until I read this book, I could quite explain why I had such a visceral knee-jerk reaction to the educational system. This book is excellent and, in a way, brought closure and understanding to my own educational complaints. I knew who Paulo Freire was, and I had read his books in the past, but the author does an excellent job of really explaining the impact of Freirian education on children. (funny enough, my husband’s grandma was a devotee of Paulo Freire and won several teaching awards by spreading his “theology”)
Really really enjoyed this book. I encourage everyone to read it and reflect on this one question from the book: if you knew you were sending your kids to an identity-based, Maoist-style, Chinese Communist thought-reform prison camp for 35h/week every week, what would you do differently than what you are doing now?
I am Brazilian and moved to the US almost 10y ago. One of the reasons that motivated my move was to provide better education for my children. I was also interested in homeschooling which is not allowed in BR. After a few years in the US and around the time my oldest was about to start Kindergarten, I had grown uncomfortable enough with the public school system. I couldn't bring myself to enroll her at our “outstanding” public school district in the Philly burbs. She went briefly to a private school, but I was not happy with that either. Now we homeschool.
Until I read this book, I could quite explain why I had such a visceral knee-jerk reaction to the educational system. This book is excellent and, in a way, brought closure and understanding to my own educational complaints. I knew who Paulo Freire was, and I had read his books in the past, but the author does an excellent job of really explaining the impact of Freirian education on children. (funny enough, my husband’s grandma was a devotee of Paulo Freire and won several teaching awards by spreading his “theology”)
Really really enjoyed this book. I encourage everyone to read it and reflect on this one question from the book: if you knew you were sending your kids to an identity-based, Maoist-style, Chinese Communist thought-reform prison camp for 35h/week every week, what would you do differently than what you are doing now?
October 15, 2023
It’s an author (Lindsay), breaking down another author (Freire), who reworded another author (Marx).
Your eyes will just glaze over as what could be said in fewer words is drawn out. Marx’s long winded phrases, to sound more educated, are reworded by Freire’s long winded phrases, to reinterpret Marx, and sound even more knowledgeable, which leaves Lindsay having to define the long winded phrases, of both, into a new set of phrases for the common era.
The kids are failing, because teachers are too busy pushing social agendas instead of the basics. An always offended underclass is easier to control than a knowledgeable class that will unify and question authority.
Done.
Your eyes will just glaze over as what could be said in fewer words is drawn out. Marx’s long winded phrases, to sound more educated, are reworded by Freire’s long winded phrases, to reinterpret Marx, and sound even more knowledgeable, which leaves Lindsay having to define the long winded phrases, of both, into a new set of phrases for the common era.
The kids are failing, because teachers are too busy pushing social agendas instead of the basics. An always offended underclass is easier to control than a knowledgeable class that will unify and question authority.
Done.
February 10, 2023
This is absolutely vital information for understanding this deranged moment. My only gripe is that it could have been condensed into a pamphlet.
January 3, 2023
A good overview of Frierian education. Lindsay really explains how followers of Friere are Marxist and how they have turned education Marxist.
My complaint, however, is that I don't believe that Lindsay ever proves that "our kids go to Friere's schools". I do believe that the colleges of education likely do push his ideologies, but my experience with many teachers is that they are not trained Marxists. Some are and that is a huge problem, and likely many who write the curriculum that run of the mill teachers are following are Marxists, but it is unclear to me how the thought reform model that Lindsay describes throughout the book would be happening in a typical classroom. Most teachers I know, though generally left leaning and biased, are not sophisticated enough to be constantly subverting the lesson plan through this codification and decodification model Lindsay describes. I do believe the data mining is going on in our public schools, and that generative themes and "Culturally Relevant Teaching" are ubiquitous in American public schools. I also believe that schools are underperforming and many students are being failed, achieving graduation as an illiterate. I just can't believe that my average intelligence brother-in-law, who is a middle school teacher, is achieving this Marxist activism in his students. That many students have profound ignorance, yes, that much is clear in interacting with recent high school graduates, but I am more inclined to believe that college professors are churning out Marxist activists and many teachers are still just unaware of the broader goal the activists are seeking to achieve. Maybe there is proof that the average teacher IS a Frierian activist, but that is not provided in this book.
My complaint, however, is that I don't believe that Lindsay ever proves that "our kids go to Friere's schools". I do believe that the colleges of education likely do push his ideologies, but my experience with many teachers is that they are not trained Marxists. Some are and that is a huge problem, and likely many who write the curriculum that run of the mill teachers are following are Marxists, but it is unclear to me how the thought reform model that Lindsay describes throughout the book would be happening in a typical classroom. Most teachers I know, though generally left leaning and biased, are not sophisticated enough to be constantly subverting the lesson plan through this codification and decodification model Lindsay describes. I do believe the data mining is going on in our public schools, and that generative themes and "Culturally Relevant Teaching" are ubiquitous in American public schools. I also believe that schools are underperforming and many students are being failed, achieving graduation as an illiterate. I just can't believe that my average intelligence brother-in-law, who is a middle school teacher, is achieving this Marxist activism in his students. That many students have profound ignorance, yes, that much is clear in interacting with recent high school graduates, but I am more inclined to believe that college professors are churning out Marxist activists and many teachers are still just unaware of the broader goal the activists are seeking to achieve. Maybe there is proof that the average teacher IS a Frierian activist, but that is not provided in this book.
February 20, 2023
Very insightful
April 23, 2023
James Lindsay’s works are fairly academic and require a lot of concentration (for me, at least).😵💫 I wish I had read this before jumping head first into his podcasts. A great primer on Paulo Freire’s theories.
May 10, 2023
I have read a number of Lindsay's books, but this was not my favorite. Seems he has gotten too comfortable with identifying thoughts as Marxist, which has led to sloppy scholarship. Not that I disagree with Freire leaning that way, but if you are writing a book, you need to build a better case to substantiate such a strong claim prior to the label.
Structurally I found the book repetitive, with high brow philosophical language that most cannot comprehend. It reminded me of 18th century philosophers that would toss in every term in their quiver to strengthen their argument. However, it made their writing cumbersome and at times obscured the primary argument. Lindsay certainly fell victim to this writing style.
I don't want to be overly dismissive, he traces Freire's works and interacts with some modern implication of how Freire impacts education. However, I didn't find the thesis sufficiently satisfying, he applied Marxism far too wide. To the point you would think that every school teacher you interact with is a Marxist or an ignorant one at best.
If you are writing on education, you should explain the cultural, and education structure that was in place prior to Freire. For example, looking beyond Marx and exploring Montaigne, Rousseau, Du Bois, Woolf, Postman, Dewey, Oakeshott, Hook, Elliot etc. shape education, and its impact on Freire? Then begin to show his specific impacts along the road such as county wide curriculum updates, testing, state wide mandates, and pinpoint shifts and cultural surroundings. Maybe a later revision will dedicate something similar to this, as it would make for a much more persuasive book outside of those that already agree with him.
Unless you have read a fare amount of Marx, I would first recommend readers Marx then Freire and arrive at your own conclusion. Only then would I recommend turning to The Marxification of Education.
Structurally I found the book repetitive, with high brow philosophical language that most cannot comprehend. It reminded me of 18th century philosophers that would toss in every term in their quiver to strengthen their argument. However, it made their writing cumbersome and at times obscured the primary argument. Lindsay certainly fell victim to this writing style.
I don't want to be overly dismissive, he traces Freire's works and interacts with some modern implication of how Freire impacts education. However, I didn't find the thesis sufficiently satisfying, he applied Marxism far too wide. To the point you would think that every school teacher you interact with is a Marxist or an ignorant one at best.
If you are writing on education, you should explain the cultural, and education structure that was in place prior to Freire. For example, looking beyond Marx and exploring Montaigne, Rousseau, Du Bois, Woolf, Postman, Dewey, Oakeshott, Hook, Elliot etc. shape education, and its impact on Freire? Then begin to show his specific impacts along the road such as county wide curriculum updates, testing, state wide mandates, and pinpoint shifts and cultural surroundings. Maybe a later revision will dedicate something similar to this, as it would make for a much more persuasive book outside of those that already agree with him.
Unless you have read a fare amount of Marx, I would first recommend readers Marx then Freire and arrive at your own conclusion. Only then would I recommend turning to The Marxification of Education.
March 2, 2023
disappointing
I’m usually a fan of James Lindsay , but the writing style of this book is so mired in academic speak that it just didn’t work for me. Over use of obscure terminology and obfuscating language makes it difficult to stay with it. I found myself forcing my way through and trying to convince myself that there were some profound concept there. It didn’t work. I wasted a lot of time on this book and got no real value.
I’m usually a fan of James Lindsay , but the writing style of this book is so mired in academic speak that it just didn’t work for me. Over use of obscure terminology and obfuscating language makes it difficult to stay with it. I found myself forcing my way through and trying to convince myself that there were some profound concept there. It didn’t work. I wasted a lot of time on this book and got no real value.
February 23, 2025
James Lindsay’s The Marxification of Education presents a critical examination of Paulo Freire’s influence on contemporary educational theory, arguing that Freirean pedagogy represents a form of Marxist indoctrination rather than a legitimate approach to education. Lindsay, known for his critiques of postmodernism and leftist ideological movements, contends that modern education has been co-opted by radical activism under the guise of critical pedagogy.
Lindsay situates his argument within a broader critique of Marxist thought, asserting that Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed serves as a blueprint for a revolutionary approach to education that prioritizes ideological transformation over traditional academic instruction. He argues that Freire’s emphasis on dialogue, consciousness-raising, and social justice redirects education away from objective knowledge and instead seeks to instill a particular political ideology in students. Through an extensive analysis of Freire’s works and their impact on educational institutions, Lindsay claims that contemporary education has shifted from knowledge transmission to activist training.
One of the book’s strengths is its detailed historical account of Freire’s intellectual influences and how his ideas have shaped modern pedagogy. Lindsay provides a thorough critique of the ways in which critical pedagogy has permeated teacher training programs and educational policies, arguing that it prioritizes ideological conformity over intellectual diversity. Additionally, his accessible writing style makes complex theoretical discussions approachable for a broad readership.
However, The Marxification of Education has been met with criticism. Many scholars argue that Lindsay misrepresents Freire’s work by reducing it to a purely ideological project, neglecting its contributions to literacy, empowerment, and educational reform. His depiction of critical pedagogy as inherently authoritarian has been viewed as polemical rather than a balanced scholarly critique. Furthermore, critics contend that Lindsay’s analysis lacks engagement with alternative interpretations of Freirean pedagogy that emphasize democratic participation and student agency.
Despite these critiques, The Marxification of Education contributes to the broader debate on the purpose and direction of education in contemporary society. The book will appeal to readers concerned about the politicization of education and those interested in critiques of left-wing ideological frameworks in academia. While controversial, Lindsay’s argument raises important questions about the role of ideology in shaping educational discourse and practice.
Lindsay’s The Marxification of Education is a provocative and contentious critique of Freirean pedagogy, framing it as a vehicle for Marxist ideological influence in education. While the book offers a well-documented historical critique, its polemical tone and broad generalizations limit its scholarly impact. Nonetheless, it remains a significant text for those engaged in debates over the role of ideology in education, contributing to ongoing discussions on pedagogy, politics, and the nature of knowledge transmission.
GPT
Lindsay situates his argument within a broader critique of Marxist thought, asserting that Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed serves as a blueprint for a revolutionary approach to education that prioritizes ideological transformation over traditional academic instruction. He argues that Freire’s emphasis on dialogue, consciousness-raising, and social justice redirects education away from objective knowledge and instead seeks to instill a particular political ideology in students. Through an extensive analysis of Freire’s works and their impact on educational institutions, Lindsay claims that contemporary education has shifted from knowledge transmission to activist training.
One of the book’s strengths is its detailed historical account of Freire’s intellectual influences and how his ideas have shaped modern pedagogy. Lindsay provides a thorough critique of the ways in which critical pedagogy has permeated teacher training programs and educational policies, arguing that it prioritizes ideological conformity over intellectual diversity. Additionally, his accessible writing style makes complex theoretical discussions approachable for a broad readership.
However, The Marxification of Education has been met with criticism. Many scholars argue that Lindsay misrepresents Freire’s work by reducing it to a purely ideological project, neglecting its contributions to literacy, empowerment, and educational reform. His depiction of critical pedagogy as inherently authoritarian has been viewed as polemical rather than a balanced scholarly critique. Furthermore, critics contend that Lindsay’s analysis lacks engagement with alternative interpretations of Freirean pedagogy that emphasize democratic participation and student agency.
Despite these critiques, The Marxification of Education contributes to the broader debate on the purpose and direction of education in contemporary society. The book will appeal to readers concerned about the politicization of education and those interested in critiques of left-wing ideological frameworks in academia. While controversial, Lindsay’s argument raises important questions about the role of ideology in shaping educational discourse and practice.
Lindsay’s The Marxification of Education is a provocative and contentious critique of Freirean pedagogy, framing it as a vehicle for Marxist ideological influence in education. While the book offers a well-documented historical critique, its polemical tone and broad generalizations limit its scholarly impact. Nonetheless, it remains a significant text for those engaged in debates over the role of ideology in education, contributing to ongoing discussions on pedagogy, politics, and the nature of knowledge transmission.
GPT
July 12, 2023
For those who want to understand where the greatest narcissistic totalitarian imbeciles, in world history, originated from this book is a must read!
Freire not only turns education into a Marxist indoctrination camp he Marxifies the entire theory (not to be confused with a critical theory) of education. In his view the previous collectivist (i.e. Prussian model) approach to education that actually taught people how to read and write and do math etc. only perpetuated the bourgeoise system of oppression by excluding and alienating the illiterate from the literate. That's right, actual learning and being "educated" is continuing the cycle of oppression!
Freire's answer? As you can guess actual literacy takes a back seat to grooming children into becoming "politically" literate i.e. to become critically trained Marxist revolutionaries and activists. This is achieve, like all dialectical leftist imbeciles, through a dialectical process. First, in order for the teacher not to perpetuate hierarchical systems of oppression the "teacher" becomes an educator and does not consider themselves as superior knowers then their "students" who become learners and are on an equal footing with their educators, which puts the parents in the adult position to have to deal with the rebellious union of "educators and learners". The educator then presents a codified example after datamining to know which themes will be most provocative and generate the biggest emotional response. An example would be a drag queen or a picture of a slave, or even something neutral like theme parks that can be critically examined to show the inequality of society. Then this problem is problematized through a critical lens in order to see how it's oppressive. This is called decoding. Then the example is applied to the students who are conscientized (read made conscious along Marxist lines) and now able to see themselves as conscious agents who can become history makers and start the perpetual revolution.
Friere was mentored by the same guy who mentored Pope Francis and Klaus Schwab. Freire is not only a synthesis of existentialism and Marxism (that I always suspected was there but hadn't seen a clear example yet) but also between Catholicism and Marxism through liberation theology.
Freire not only turns education into a Marxist indoctrination camp he Marxifies the entire theory (not to be confused with a critical theory) of education. In his view the previous collectivist (i.e. Prussian model) approach to education that actually taught people how to read and write and do math etc. only perpetuated the bourgeoise system of oppression by excluding and alienating the illiterate from the literate. That's right, actual learning and being "educated" is continuing the cycle of oppression!
Freire's answer? As you can guess actual literacy takes a back seat to grooming children into becoming "politically" literate i.e. to become critically trained Marxist revolutionaries and activists. This is achieve, like all dialectical leftist imbeciles, through a dialectical process. First, in order for the teacher not to perpetuate hierarchical systems of oppression the "teacher" becomes an educator and does not consider themselves as superior knowers then their "students" who become learners and are on an equal footing with their educators, which puts the parents in the adult position to have to deal with the rebellious union of "educators and learners". The educator then presents a codified example after datamining to know which themes will be most provocative and generate the biggest emotional response. An example would be a drag queen or a picture of a slave, or even something neutral like theme parks that can be critically examined to show the inequality of society. Then this problem is problematized through a critical lens in order to see how it's oppressive. This is called decoding. Then the example is applied to the students who are conscientized (read made conscious along Marxist lines) and now able to see themselves as conscious agents who can become history makers and start the perpetual revolution.
Friere was mentored by the same guy who mentored Pope Francis and Klaus Schwab. Freire is not only a synthesis of existentialism and Marxism (that I always suspected was there but hadn't seen a clear example yet) but also between Catholicism and Marxism through liberation theology.
January 6, 2023
REQUIRED READING FOR PARENTS & EVERY SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER AROUND THE COUNTRY
Lindsay does a wonderful job of not only exposing social emotional learning (SEL) & critical theories in education, but also HOW they work and HOW are implemented. Example: he takes a basic 2nd grade math problem of an amusement park 50 miles away from home to show how the teacher, through “dialogical” method, will ask certain “feeling” questions (the E in SEL) to move toward discussions of family structure, the green agenda, oppression vs the oppressor (I.e., parents and family structure), etc.
This books arms parents with what’s actually occurring in classrooms around the country and the world with the sole (soul also) goal of creating revolutionists. He also shows how this method of teaching is a religion and undermines parental authority and the parental institution, among other things. In addition, Lindsay covers Queer Theory and how Drag Queen Story Hour works, and what it’s meant to accomplish.
READ AND/OR LISTEN TO THIS BOOK, AND THEN GET INVOLVED TO CHANGE EDUCATION LOCALLY!
Lindsay does a wonderful job of not only exposing social emotional learning (SEL) & critical theories in education, but also HOW they work and HOW are implemented. Example: he takes a basic 2nd grade math problem of an amusement park 50 miles away from home to show how the teacher, through “dialogical” method, will ask certain “feeling” questions (the E in SEL) to move toward discussions of family structure, the green agenda, oppression vs the oppressor (I.e., parents and family structure), etc.
This books arms parents with what’s actually occurring in classrooms around the country and the world with the sole (soul also) goal of creating revolutionists. He also shows how this method of teaching is a religion and undermines parental authority and the parental institution, among other things. In addition, Lindsay covers Queer Theory and how Drag Queen Story Hour works, and what it’s meant to accomplish.
READ AND/OR LISTEN TO THIS BOOK, AND THEN GET INVOLVED TO CHANGE EDUCATION LOCALLY!
February 20, 2023
Poweful
As with all his content, you have to put your thinking cap on because he has such dense material, but it is so worth plowing through. So thankful that he can break down some of these concepts that many people will turn a blind eye to these dats. If we don’t stop the madness, we will lose it all.
As with all his content, you have to put your thinking cap on because he has such dense material, but it is so worth plowing through. So thankful that he can break down some of these concepts that many people will turn a blind eye to these dats. If we don’t stop the madness, we will lose it all.
May 13, 2023
Thought-provoking analysis of the intersection between education and critical Marxism. The book delves into Paulo Freire's influential ideas on education, emphasizing the need for critical consciousness and social transformation. While the text provides valuable insights into the power dynamics inherent in education, some readers may find the book overly academic, lacking simple language.
December 24, 2022
I wish it were so. I call bullshit, though.
March 3, 2023
Great insight to what is happening in schools.
March 15, 2023
James Lindsay’s break down of Freire’s Critical Marxism is immensely important for people to understand. Even more so if one is forced to send their children to state run schools.
June 26, 2023
A must-read for everyone!
As an educator, this book details what our instructions have taught and continue to teach. It was very eye opening and thought provoking.
As an educator, this book details what our instructions have taught and continue to teach. It was very eye opening and thought provoking.
January 12, 2024
Lindsay is a seasoned culture warrior, and pulls no punches in his assessment:
“Parents send their children to public schools to be educated, not to be groomed into “political literacy” through a Marxist perversion of education.”
I was hoping for comprehensive coverage of this topic that included empirical and statistical data, modern history, rich anecdotes and rigorous analysis. However, the book largely focuses on the assumed impact of Paulo Freire's pedagogical writings (a Brazilian Marxist man):
“Paulo Freire is easily the most influential name in education in a century, and as a result, as I said, our kids go to Paulo Freire’s schools. Almost all of them do… most famous for his 1970 book Pedagogy of the Oppressed. This book is the third most-cited source in all of the social sciences and humanities and enjoys pride of place and curricular centrality in virtually every college of education in North America … The overwhelming adoption of Paulo Freire’s crackpot theory of education, which has become known as “Critical Pedagogy,” may relate to but cannot directly explain the rise in school shootings, inexplicable failures of law enforcement, or many other tragedies. It does, however, almost completely explain why our schools are failing to teach our children basic skills like reading, writing, and mathematics while succeeding at turning them into a new activist class for Leftist – and only and explicitly Leftist – causes.”
“Freire, then, is in a meaningful sense the father of Woke because going Woke means learning to see structural oppression in virtually everything in order to denounce it, like a process of waking up to a hidden, horrible world. Freireans assume the oppression is there and then aim to groom “learners” to see it.”
I found the book quite hard to read, and personally thought that radical editorial choices would have made it much more enjoyable/interesting. Lindsay works through the application of Paulo Freire's approaches in excruciating detail:
“In truth, “generative themes” are concepts Marxists can use to evoke powerful emotional reactions from their students in order to groom them through a process of thought reform into a Marxist consciousness. Trigger warning! In a real sense, they are triggering themes because they are “generative” in the sense of generating emotional reactions that facilitators can use to radicalize (that is, conscientize). The real goal of the Freirean method is “political literacy,” which means conscientization. That is achieved by using generative themes to trigger priority for political discussions, allegedly as “mediators” to academic learning, and these discussions are to be facilitated by Marxist thought reformers using “lenses” like equity, inclusion, and sustainability.”
I'd expect this book to only ever have a small audience. Read it in conjunction with School of Woke by Kenny Xu, to get a bigger and more comprehensive picture.
“Parents send their children to public schools to be educated, not to be groomed into “political literacy” through a Marxist perversion of education.”
I was hoping for comprehensive coverage of this topic that included empirical and statistical data, modern history, rich anecdotes and rigorous analysis. However, the book largely focuses on the assumed impact of Paulo Freire's pedagogical writings (a Brazilian Marxist man):
“Paulo Freire is easily the most influential name in education in a century, and as a result, as I said, our kids go to Paulo Freire’s schools. Almost all of them do… most famous for his 1970 book Pedagogy of the Oppressed. This book is the third most-cited source in all of the social sciences and humanities and enjoys pride of place and curricular centrality in virtually every college of education in North America … The overwhelming adoption of Paulo Freire’s crackpot theory of education, which has become known as “Critical Pedagogy,” may relate to but cannot directly explain the rise in school shootings, inexplicable failures of law enforcement, or many other tragedies. It does, however, almost completely explain why our schools are failing to teach our children basic skills like reading, writing, and mathematics while succeeding at turning them into a new activist class for Leftist – and only and explicitly Leftist – causes.”
“Freire, then, is in a meaningful sense the father of Woke because going Woke means learning to see structural oppression in virtually everything in order to denounce it, like a process of waking up to a hidden, horrible world. Freireans assume the oppression is there and then aim to groom “learners” to see it.”
I found the book quite hard to read, and personally thought that radical editorial choices would have made it much more enjoyable/interesting. Lindsay works through the application of Paulo Freire's approaches in excruciating detail:
“In truth, “generative themes” are concepts Marxists can use to evoke powerful emotional reactions from their students in order to groom them through a process of thought reform into a Marxist consciousness. Trigger warning! In a real sense, they are triggering themes because they are “generative” in the sense of generating emotional reactions that facilitators can use to radicalize (that is, conscientize). The real goal of the Freirean method is “political literacy,” which means conscientization. That is achieved by using generative themes to trigger priority for political discussions, allegedly as “mediators” to academic learning, and these discussions are to be facilitated by Marxist thought reformers using “lenses” like equity, inclusion, and sustainability.”
I'd expect this book to only ever have a small audience. Read it in conjunction with School of Woke by Kenny Xu, to get a bigger and more comprehensive picture.
January 14, 2023
connection made, but could have been anything
Lindsay makes a compelling case, some of the narratives explaining lesson goals are all too familiar.
Many a teacher has looked a material and thought ‘why the hell do I have to teach it this way’
It’s a very passionate defence, but I wonder if the reality is simply this method of discussion and linking within a classroom just makes the class more interesting for students - yes, it will almost always make it political, yes, it will take large chunks of lessons - but to say all teachers are doing this knowingly or unknowingly for a Marxist agenda is a stretch.
Most teachers are just looking for a way to bring items to life for students and it’s mapping to their views - I’d have far more truck with the idea, if he said the notion of large schools or even schools themselves were places of wrongful influence, rather than a Marxist thread within schools.
Still the argument is cogent and he says: They have abandoned the idea of educating American children to grow toward becoming successful and prosperous adults in American society because they want to undermine, destroy, and replace American society.
Which is the nail on the head - he doesn’t want a changed society and educators generally do , you don’t get into teaching unless it’s to help others, so I’m not sure at times why he gets surprised at an inclusive approach (which does go too far)
Enjoyable read, precise, but he could have started with almost any left leaning ‘ism’ to release his frustration.
He’s not wrong, but it’s a wider field.
Lindsay makes a compelling case, some of the narratives explaining lesson goals are all too familiar.
Many a teacher has looked a material and thought ‘why the hell do I have to teach it this way’
It’s a very passionate defence, but I wonder if the reality is simply this method of discussion and linking within a classroom just makes the class more interesting for students - yes, it will almost always make it political, yes, it will take large chunks of lessons - but to say all teachers are doing this knowingly or unknowingly for a Marxist agenda is a stretch.
Most teachers are just looking for a way to bring items to life for students and it’s mapping to their views - I’d have far more truck with the idea, if he said the notion of large schools or even schools themselves were places of wrongful influence, rather than a Marxist thread within schools.
Still the argument is cogent and he says: They have abandoned the idea of educating American children to grow toward becoming successful and prosperous adults in American society because they want to undermine, destroy, and replace American society.
Which is the nail on the head - he doesn’t want a changed society and educators generally do , you don’t get into teaching unless it’s to help others, so I’m not sure at times why he gets surprised at an inclusive approach (which does go too far)
Enjoyable read, precise, but he could have started with almost any left leaning ‘ism’ to release his frustration.
He’s not wrong, but it’s a wider field.
November 21, 2023
The Last Chapter Should Be the First - Says It All So Very Well
The last chapter , “The short, short, short ……” is really the entire book. It should be the first chapter so the reader can then dive into the detail in the following chapters.
Lindsay is spot on in his observation. Here in Rochester, MN, the School Board’s Equity Policy actually cites Paulo Freire and his work as a guiding principle.
The only negative I have about this book that pervasive repetition of the same points over and over detracts from its full force efficacy. This book could be much more powerful if the last chapter were first and the remaining supports the key points in a much edited version to eliminate the repetition.
But all in all, this book needed to be written and I thank Dr. Lindsay for tackling the subject. Again, the last chapter says it all so very well.
The last chapter , “The short, short, short ……” is really the entire book. It should be the first chapter so the reader can then dive into the detail in the following chapters.
Lindsay is spot on in his observation. Here in Rochester, MN, the School Board’s Equity Policy actually cites Paulo Freire and his work as a guiding principle.
The only negative I have about this book that pervasive repetition of the same points over and over detracts from its full force efficacy. This book could be much more powerful if the last chapter were first and the remaining supports the key points in a much edited version to eliminate the repetition.
But all in all, this book needed to be written and I thank Dr. Lindsay for tackling the subject. Again, the last chapter says it all so very well.
July 6, 2023
I don’t have a view on education in the USA, but this book did help make an online course that I took on decolonising the university more intelligible. This was a course from a UK uni.
As a book it is not an easy read and a bit repetitive but gives a credible insight into an influential contemporary movement within higher education and its potential influence on the activism of some students.
As a book it is not an easy read and a bit repetitive but gives a credible insight into an influential contemporary movement within higher education and its potential influence on the activism of some students.
January 4, 2023
Not as good as Race Marxism, but this work is pivotal in understanding how our kids' minds were hijacked by Marxist commandant who brainwashed them into becoming their soldiers in an American Cultural Revolution that parallels that of Mao Zedong in China during the 1960s.
December 21, 2023
Scary
A good read, although hard to get through at times due to Freire's obscure writing, which Lindsay quotes at length quite frequently. One weakness of the book is it doesn't give real world examples in the school system of curriculum that is based on Freire.
A good read, although hard to get through at times due to Freire's obscure writing, which Lindsay quotes at length quite frequently. One weakness of the book is it doesn't give real world examples in the school system of curriculum that is based on Freire.
April 16, 2024
The information was good, but I either couldn’t understand the nuances of this book, or it was twice as long as it needed to be. It felt very repetitive; I seemed to understand from the first half.
June 2, 2023
Note: Having started to read Freire's The Politics of Education, I have discovered Lindsay is correct when stating it this book is far more clear than the pedagogy of the oppressed. The difference between the two books is night and day, while Pedagogy of the Oppressed which I read in grad school obfuscates, the Politics of Education is chillingly obvious. Lindsay isn't simply providing an unfavorable interpretation of Freire, what Freire writes in The Politics of Education really is as atrocious as Lindsay makes out. Searching for journal articles last night that were critical of Freire, instead brought me a multitude of positive and affirming papers, that also affirm Freire's influence and prevalence in America's schools. It is scary, for everything that averages people think education is for, Freire has utter contempt for and considers it oppressive. He loathes reading, writing, and arithmetic. The only role of school is to create left-wing activists. Educators in the U.S have let the fox into the hen house. It really is the theft of education.
Original review:
I am hoping that Lindsay overstates the extent that public education and colleges are Freire schools, while obviously some are, I sure hope most are yet thought-reform camps. I wish it was possible to obtain some data on true believers, nominal believers, and opponents.
As part of my master’s of education, I have had to read chapters of Freire’s “Pedagogy of the Oppressed” and write papers on his concepts. There is a lot of verbiage and ambiguous words and concepts, which for the uninitiated will be interpreted in a variety of ways. Much of Freire’s rhetoric sounds fine, for example, he goes on and on about not using oppressive means and propaganda, and how we have a responsibility to love our students and not dehumanize them.
For those who don’t like the Prussian model of schooling, it is easy to nod one’s head while he writes on the banking model of education. In some things, such as conscientization, it is easy to think of how the first step of recovery is recognizing a problem, like a drunkard finally acknowledging the fact of there of their alcoholism. His method of problem posing could be adopted as a way of generating engagement with the students, though not for Marxist ends. Those who are not on guard could simply overlook his categorizing everyone as oppressors and the oppressed, stating that the oppressed must take the means of production, and stating the only purpose of education is to create people who will struggle for their own liberation.
It is true in my master’s program, Freire is presented in a favorable manner, but with many of the students, I imagine it is similar to being introduced to and then joining a cult. What is presented by apologists and evangelists to the public is sugar-coated and made to seem palatable. Plenty who are induced within the cult starts to parrot language while not understanding underlying doctrine or embracing the more radical and demented aspects of their new faith. As they apply it, it is not in accordance with the spirit of the founder. They are yet zealots and missionaries and policers of orthodoxy.
With Freire, I’ve had a handful of instructors who promote the approach and some of my fellow students clearly resonate and imbibe his toxic pedagogy, some have truly drunk the Kool-Aid and are woke through and through, but many others simply grab what sounds like reasonable aspects from Freire, just like they adopt pieces from Dewey, Vygotsky, Piaget, and information theorist. As they are not Marxists who are working for a fundamental transformation of society, they will fail to coherently carry out Freire’s pedagogy.
From my limited perspective, it is true that I am the only one amongst my peers that have spoken critically of Freire's pedagogy, and since, in my school, there is peer grading, I've also been marked off by fellows for having the wrong opinion.
Original review:
I am hoping that Lindsay overstates the extent that public education and colleges are Freire schools, while obviously some are, I sure hope most are yet thought-reform camps. I wish it was possible to obtain some data on true believers, nominal believers, and opponents.
As part of my master’s of education, I have had to read chapters of Freire’s “Pedagogy of the Oppressed” and write papers on his concepts. There is a lot of verbiage and ambiguous words and concepts, which for the uninitiated will be interpreted in a variety of ways. Much of Freire’s rhetoric sounds fine, for example, he goes on and on about not using oppressive means and propaganda, and how we have a responsibility to love our students and not dehumanize them.
For those who don’t like the Prussian model of schooling, it is easy to nod one’s head while he writes on the banking model of education. In some things, such as conscientization, it is easy to think of how the first step of recovery is recognizing a problem, like a drunkard finally acknowledging the fact of there of their alcoholism. His method of problem posing could be adopted as a way of generating engagement with the students, though not for Marxist ends. Those who are not on guard could simply overlook his categorizing everyone as oppressors and the oppressed, stating that the oppressed must take the means of production, and stating the only purpose of education is to create people who will struggle for their own liberation.
It is true in my master’s program, Freire is presented in a favorable manner, but with many of the students, I imagine it is similar to being introduced to and then joining a cult. What is presented by apologists and evangelists to the public is sugar-coated and made to seem palatable. Plenty who are induced within the cult starts to parrot language while not understanding underlying doctrine or embracing the more radical and demented aspects of their new faith. As they apply it, it is not in accordance with the spirit of the founder. They are yet zealots and missionaries and policers of orthodoxy.
With Freire, I’ve had a handful of instructors who promote the approach and some of my fellow students clearly resonate and imbibe his toxic pedagogy, some have truly drunk the Kool-Aid and are woke through and through, but many others simply grab what sounds like reasonable aspects from Freire, just like they adopt pieces from Dewey, Vygotsky, Piaget, and information theorist. As they are not Marxists who are working for a fundamental transformation of society, they will fail to coherently carry out Freire’s pedagogy.
From my limited perspective, it is true that I am the only one amongst my peers that have spoken critically of Freire's pedagogy, and since, in my school, there is peer grading, I've also been marked off by fellows for having the wrong opinion.
September 14, 2025
“One of the traits of white supremacist culture is worship of the written word.”
This was the claim, from an educators conference, that I lightheartedly shared with a friend/coworker back in 2019, thinking he and I could both poke fun at it. To my surprise, he began to defend the claim, and what ensued was one of the strangest and most confusing interactions I’ve ever had as a teacher.
James Lindsay’s “The Marxification of Education” provides the clarity I was looking for, albeit years too late to salvage that conversation or friendship. But at least now I understand the framework (Critical Pedagogy) within which my friend was operating.
Lindsay provides a detailed explanation of Paulo Freire’s education theory and its gradual adoption into American educational institutions. One of the most telling passages is an excerpt from philosopher and critical theorist Alison Bailey. She contrasts Critical Pedagogy from the more traditional understanding of “critical thinking,” explaining that Critical Pedagogy is NOT concerned with “epistemic adequacy”—the idea that beliefs should be grounded in “validity, soundness, or conceptual clarity.” Rather, Critical Pedagogy “begins from a completely different set of assumptions, rooted in Neo-Marxian literature on Critical theory.”
Bailey’s admission, to quote Lindsay, is “clarifying in the extreme.” Logic and reason are out. The Marxian paradigm of oppressor vs oppressed, along with its utopian aspirations, is in.
Bailey continues by playing off intersectional feminist and poet Audre Lorde, stating that “the tools of the critical thinking tradition cannot dismantle the master’s house.” But if Paulo Freire’s utopian vision is to somehow become manifest, the dismantling must happen.
Throughout his book, Lindsay explains how the goal of this educational theory is to awaken a “critical consciousness” in the minds of impressionable young students so that, guided by Marxian conflict theory, they can break apart societal structures, and thereby usher in a new, perfected society, all while being free from the constraints of having to defend their beliefs or actions through any kind of reasoned debate or dialogue. Meanwhile, academic competencies, such as literacy, fall to the wayside. Students can become truly “literate” in the Freirian sense; they will be able to “read” society, awakened to the reality of its oppressive power structures, as they take up the charge of tearing it all down.
I now understand why the conversation with my friend went the way it did. I was looking for conceptual and linguistic coherence. He was looking to propagate the oppressor/oppressed narrative that the theory demands. My hope for finding common ground through reasoned dialogue was met with flippant disdain, impatience, and the tacit accusation that I was a bigot. This, in addition to his self-righteous diatribe on the role of teachers, and a melodramatic rage-quitting of the conversation, was warning enough that whatever ideas seemed to have possessed him were ones I needn’t adopt.
But understanding those ideas is important—vital for people involved in education, or anyone at all who values critical thinking (in the “validity, soundness, and conceptual clarity” sense of the word). For providing that understanding, and something of an antidote to the widespread infection of Critical Theory throughout our educational institutions, this book gets my recommendation.
This was the claim, from an educators conference, that I lightheartedly shared with a friend/coworker back in 2019, thinking he and I could both poke fun at it. To my surprise, he began to defend the claim, and what ensued was one of the strangest and most confusing interactions I’ve ever had as a teacher.
James Lindsay’s “The Marxification of Education” provides the clarity I was looking for, albeit years too late to salvage that conversation or friendship. But at least now I understand the framework (Critical Pedagogy) within which my friend was operating.
Lindsay provides a detailed explanation of Paulo Freire’s education theory and its gradual adoption into American educational institutions. One of the most telling passages is an excerpt from philosopher and critical theorist Alison Bailey. She contrasts Critical Pedagogy from the more traditional understanding of “critical thinking,” explaining that Critical Pedagogy is NOT concerned with “epistemic adequacy”—the idea that beliefs should be grounded in “validity, soundness, or conceptual clarity.” Rather, Critical Pedagogy “begins from a completely different set of assumptions, rooted in Neo-Marxian literature on Critical theory.”
Bailey’s admission, to quote Lindsay, is “clarifying in the extreme.” Logic and reason are out. The Marxian paradigm of oppressor vs oppressed, along with its utopian aspirations, is in.
Bailey continues by playing off intersectional feminist and poet Audre Lorde, stating that “the tools of the critical thinking tradition cannot dismantle the master’s house.” But if Paulo Freire’s utopian vision is to somehow become manifest, the dismantling must happen.
Throughout his book, Lindsay explains how the goal of this educational theory is to awaken a “critical consciousness” in the minds of impressionable young students so that, guided by Marxian conflict theory, they can break apart societal structures, and thereby usher in a new, perfected society, all while being free from the constraints of having to defend their beliefs or actions through any kind of reasoned debate or dialogue. Meanwhile, academic competencies, such as literacy, fall to the wayside. Students can become truly “literate” in the Freirian sense; they will be able to “read” society, awakened to the reality of its oppressive power structures, as they take up the charge of tearing it all down.
I now understand why the conversation with my friend went the way it did. I was looking for conceptual and linguistic coherence. He was looking to propagate the oppressor/oppressed narrative that the theory demands. My hope for finding common ground through reasoned dialogue was met with flippant disdain, impatience, and the tacit accusation that I was a bigot. This, in addition to his self-righteous diatribe on the role of teachers, and a melodramatic rage-quitting of the conversation, was warning enough that whatever ideas seemed to have possessed him were ones I needn’t adopt.
But understanding those ideas is important—vital for people involved in education, or anyone at all who values critical thinking (in the “validity, soundness, and conceptual clarity” sense of the word). For providing that understanding, and something of an antidote to the widespread infection of Critical Theory throughout our educational institutions, this book gets my recommendation.
August 10, 2023
Read review with additional content on my blog Book Reviews page.
I have spoken with teachers who express some radical ideas during conversations. When I would mention that the ideas they were expressing are Marxist they would get very defensive and deny that they were Marxist ideas. This happened so often that I thought maybe these individuals were all just Fabian Socialists who didn’t want to be exposed. But then in society, as a whole, it seems more and more people are begging for socialism, while at the same time polls show that people overwhelmingly do not want a government run economy. The same people begging for socialism seem to not understand what it is. How does this happen? It has been so frustrating that it has become overwhelming to discuss politics with people because they seem to be scatterbrained. More and more people are viewing reality through a lens of structural oppression, and when you ask for clarification, they seem unable to provide it. They can only parrot ideas and slander those who seek explanation for their views. It is quite literally destroying this country, spinning citizens against each other, and turning our attention away from meaningful debate to a focus on nonissues. I never understood where it was all coming from until reading this book.
I am familiar with Yury Bezmenov, the KGB defector who exposed the goals and strategies of the KGB to tear this country apart from the inside out. And I did think his prophecy that we will know when ideological subversion has taken effect, because we “will no longer agree on facts” came well into fruition. And I believed him when he said it takes about 20 years for this process to take affect, as “that is how long it takes to educate the next generation”. What I did not understand was that it would be our public education system which would be the source of this ideological subversion. That our government would incorporate Paulo Freire’s (a man I had never heard of) teaching methods to subvert ideology behind the backs of parents, under the pretense of education. That educators are the instruments of manipulation as they are taught brainwashing techniques derived from authoritarian regimes. It seems like a fictional story. Unfortunately, Lindsay has exposed this not as a dystopian thriller, but as the current reality of education in America. This book explains why children come home dumber: less able to think for themselves, less able to do math, less literate, and with less desire to learn. Academic competence seems to be replaced with very specific activist aspirations. Changing the world by way of revolution seems more important than the consequences.
If you want to understand how this is happening, this is the book for you.
I have spoken with teachers who express some radical ideas during conversations. When I would mention that the ideas they were expressing are Marxist they would get very defensive and deny that they were Marxist ideas. This happened so often that I thought maybe these individuals were all just Fabian Socialists who didn’t want to be exposed. But then in society, as a whole, it seems more and more people are begging for socialism, while at the same time polls show that people overwhelmingly do not want a government run economy. The same people begging for socialism seem to not understand what it is. How does this happen? It has been so frustrating that it has become overwhelming to discuss politics with people because they seem to be scatterbrained. More and more people are viewing reality through a lens of structural oppression, and when you ask for clarification, they seem unable to provide it. They can only parrot ideas and slander those who seek explanation for their views. It is quite literally destroying this country, spinning citizens against each other, and turning our attention away from meaningful debate to a focus on nonissues. I never understood where it was all coming from until reading this book.
I am familiar with Yury Bezmenov, the KGB defector who exposed the goals and strategies of the KGB to tear this country apart from the inside out. And I did think his prophecy that we will know when ideological subversion has taken effect, because we “will no longer agree on facts” came well into fruition. And I believed him when he said it takes about 20 years for this process to take affect, as “that is how long it takes to educate the next generation”. What I did not understand was that it would be our public education system which would be the source of this ideological subversion. That our government would incorporate Paulo Freire’s (a man I had never heard of) teaching methods to subvert ideology behind the backs of parents, under the pretense of education. That educators are the instruments of manipulation as they are taught brainwashing techniques derived from authoritarian regimes. It seems like a fictional story. Unfortunately, Lindsay has exposed this not as a dystopian thriller, but as the current reality of education in America. This book explains why children come home dumber: less able to think for themselves, less able to do math, less literate, and with less desire to learn. Academic competence seems to be replaced with very specific activist aspirations. Changing the world by way of revolution seems more important than the consequences.
If you want to understand how this is happening, this is the book for you.
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