Abstract

KELLNER, Douglas M.. On Marcuse: critique, liberation, and reschooling in the radical pedagogy of Herbert Marcuse. Estud. pesqui. psicol. [online]. 2011, vol.11, n.1, pp. 23-55. ISSN 1808-4281.

Philosopher, social theorist, and political activist, Herbert Marcuse gained world renown during the 1960s as a theorist of major transformations within both the structures of social production and reproduction and emergent forms of resistance to domination and repression. His theory of "one-dimensional" society provided critical perspectives on contemporary capitalist and state communist societies, while his notion of the “Great Refusal" won him renown as a theorist of revolutionary change and "liberation from the affluent society." Consequently, he became one of the most influential intellectuals in the United States during the 1960s and into the 1970s. But what is Marcuse’s legacy today? While other critical theorists of his generation have gained a new level of academic cache, Marcuse seems to remain a historical figure locked within the dramas of the sixties. As such, a return to Marcuse, as Angela Davis has pointed out, seems to veer dangerously close to “nostalgia” for a past age (MARCUSE, 2005). In this book, we attempt to show that Marcuse continues to have significant relevance and importance to the contemporary situation concerning education in the advanced, industrial world. With the rise of standardization policies in the sphere of schooling, the steady progress of the “affluent society” in the sphere of western, industrialized economies, the waning of critical and dialectical thinking in the field of philosophy and the social sciences, and finally, the immediate degradation of the environment, Marcuse speaks with clarity to academics, teachers, and activists interested in understanding the complexities of “counter-revolution and revolt” occurring today in a variety of locations and across many domains. In this book we demonstrate Marcuse’s sustained concern for education as a sphere for developing radical critique and emancipatory alternatives to the fully administered society. We intend our study to demonstrate not only Marcuse’s relevancy, but also the urgency with which we must evaluate his life and work in light of continuities and transformations within the present system of social relations and institutions from Marcuse’s time to our own

Keywords : Herbert Marcuse; Critique; Liberation; Reschooling; Radical Pedagogy.

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