The Marxification of Education: Paulo Freire's Critical Marxism and the Theft of Education

by James Lindsay

Marxist thinkers, neo- or otherwise, especially since the 1920s have been primarily concerned with the process of becoming conscious to the “realities” of society and the “need” to create systemic change. Marx, they realized, had been wrong. Consciousness won’t spontaneously arise (from the preaching of the Communist gospel and intolerable working conditions). Worse, when push comes to shove, say in the eruption of a World War, workers of the world stop uniting and hole up in their national identities. Consciousness has to be raised, deliberately and carefully. This gave rise to a whole new chapter in Marxist thought: Cultural Marxism, which sought to address these issues. Perhaps most notably among Marxist Theorists in this regard is the Hungarian Marxist György Lukács, who developed the concept considerably in his 1923 book (arguably his magnum opus), History and Class Consciousness.