Education, Pedagogy, and Social Movements in Latin America

This chapter provides an overview of the role of education within Latin American social movements over the past century. The first part discusses political education during the first half of the twentieth century, with a focus on the Communist Party and anarchist organizing efforts both before and after the Bolshevik Revolution. The emphasis is on urban and rural labor organizing in Brazil, as a lens into similar socialist organizing unfolding throughout the continent. This section also analyzes two important state-led educational initiatives during this period, the “socialist education” policies developed in Mexico during the 1930s and the 1961 Cuban Literacy campaign. The second part of the chapter discusses the authoritarian period in Latin America, from the mid-1960s to the early 1980s, and the impact of Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed. The educational approach outlined in Freire’s book was taken up by Catholic clergy inspired by liberation theology, which facilitated the rapid spread of Freirean practices throughout Latin America. This section examines Freirean literacy programs and popular education among El Salvadoran guerrilla groups and under the Sandinista government. The final section is on social movements and education in contemporary Latin America, after the re-democratization of the region, focusing on both non-formal education, or formación, as well as social movement’s transformation and co-governance of public education. This long-term emphasis on education and pedagogy within Latin American social movements has been a major reason for their growth, continuity, and effectiveness.