Henry Giroux: Where is the Outrage? Critical Pedagogy in Dark Times

This public lecture by Dr. Henry A. Giroux is part of The Distinguished Scholar Speaker Series in Critical Pedagogy at McMaster University. It brings together leading thinkers to explore the development of critical pedagogies and the mobilization of teaching and learning practices towards matters of democracy, social justice, agency, politics, power, culture, and community.
Henry Giroux’s lecture addresses the larger corporate and market driven forces now shaping all aspects of education, politics, culture, and everyday life in North America. In this talk, there will be a special emphasis on the role that critical pedagogy plays in defining not only traditional spheres of schooling but also a crucial form of public pedagogy that is at the heart of contemporary politics. In this sense, Giroux’s lecture explores what might be called the educative nature of culture and politics. At the same time, the lecture considers a number of related educative and pedagogical concerns central to the field of critical pedagogy including the notion of teachers as public intellectuals, pedagogy and the project of a substantive democracy, a politics of responsibility, and finally, pedagogy as a form of resistance and educated hope.
Henry A. Giroux currently holds a Chair for Scholarship in the Public Interest at McMaster University in the English and Cultural Studies Department. He is also the Paulo Freire Distinguished Scholar in Critical Pedagogy and holds a Distinguished Visiting Professorship at Ryerson University. His most recent books include: The Violence of Organized Forgetting: Thinking Beyond America's Disimagination Machine (City Lights, 2014); Higher Education After Neoliberalism (Haymarket, 2014); Dangerous Thinking in the Age of the New Authoritarianism (Paradigm 2015). Disposable Futures: Violence in the Age of the Spectacle [co authored with Brad Evans], (City Lights in 2015). Giroux’s web site is www.henryagiroux.com

[@brucemyers323]

Lecture begins at 5:35.

[@EmersetFarquharson]

Thanks. Intro probably took 50% of viewers away.

[@adelpapa6522]

Lol

[@willharbison7017]

"Education has to be seen as more than a credential or a pathway to a job". And how can it be anything other than that when students are tied down by debt?

[@jetn9057]

So true. The treadmill spins, and there is no to for reflection, much less perspective or wisdom.

[@soularddave2]

I think one finds time for intellectual pursuits in addition to working and home making. That pursuit can be continued learning, conversation, teaching, mentoring, whatever. There needs to be a social element to life, go do it.

[@paxnorth7304]

Yeah, I'm guessing in this talk (haven't finished it) that he doesn't mention the ballooning of University administrations, and thus the inflated cost of Uni, and thus the lifelong debt, not to mention how frankly it's not up most people's alleys in terms of aptitudes. No shame in that by the way.

[@seanchadwick2879]

pax north he brings up that there are more admins than faculty around 37:00

[@MyThoughtsBelow]

"The worst dimension of power, is when it makes itself invisible."

[@dwwolf4636]

Yeah, beware of the Invisible Boogey Man that controls everything. People might start writing books about him.

[@friendlyfire7861]

That's been the Marxist movement in education-surreptitious, deceptive, duplicitous.

[@zachflakerton]

When a guy who talks about practicing democracy in the most democratic country in the world only gets 8 thousand views on youtube, questions should be raised.

[@oskarnordenqvist8171]

What makes you think that the US is the most democratic country in the world? It's not even top 10.

[@zachflakerton]

Oskar Nordenqvist​ My comment wasn't making a define statement, it was suppose to open a question. I was at first using common rhetoric held by the people of the US and then pointed out that when you get to the down to earth core about reinforcing such rhetoric like this guy, you get jack in return.

[@mazardeus]

According to a Stanford University study, the United States is no longer a democracy. It is now an Oligarchy. danielmazahreh.wordpress.com/2016/10/26/study-u-s-no-longer-an-actual-democracy/

[@EmersetFarquharson]

This guy is a Canadian/American professor and this speech is being given in a Canadian University (that my brother goes to). His speech covers a number of countries. Certainly Canada is covered, under the former Harper government.

[@basstrip73]

And under Trudeau who is much more of a neoliberal than, Harper who was more of a dodgy conservative. Since Hillary lost, Trudeau is being put forward as the neoliberal poster who along with neolib poster girl Angela Merkel will "save" the west from change that is inevitable.

[@read1communications]

Great post. Thanks

[@TheVoluntariast]

While critical pedagogy aims to challenge traditional educational practices and promote social justice, it often falls short in several key areas. Firstly, its overemphasis on power dynamics and oppression can lead to an overly politicized classroom environment, where education becomes a platform for advancing ideological agendas rather than fostering genuine learning and critical thinking. This can result in a biased presentation of information and stifled intellectual diversity. Secondly, critical pedagogy's focus on group identity and collective rights may overshadow the importance of individual agency and responsibility. By framing educational experiences primarily in terms of oppressor-oppressed dichotomies, critical pedagogy risks perpetuating a victim mentality among students and inhibiting their ability to develop resilience and problem-solving skills. Thirdly, the rejection of objective truth and promotion of subjective perspectives in critical pedagogy can undermine academic rigor and scholarly inquiry. By prioritizing personal experiences and subjective interpretations over empirical evidence and logical reasoning, critical pedagogy may hinder students' ability to engage critically with complex issues and develop a nuanced understanding of the world. Furthermore, critical pedagogy's tendency to prioritize social justice outcomes over educational outcomes may result in a neglect of academic standards and essential skills development. While it is important to address social inequalities within education, this should not come at the expense of academic excellence and the cultivation of essential competencies needed for success in various fields. Lastly, critical pedagogy's promotion of dialogue and collaboration among students and educators may inadvertently suppress dissenting voices and alternative perspectives. In an environment where certain viewpoints are privileged over others based on their alignment with critical pedagogical principles, genuine intellectual exchange and open-minded inquiry may be stifled.

[@mattkelly4961]

Thank you James Lindsay for helping many of us see the evils lurking in the education system. This kind of thought only has bad consequences and is anti American through and through

[@borakurockie]

isn't it amazing how alluring Henry sounds. He uses all these beautiful phrases and imagery to make you nod to what he is saying... then inserts or slips in some very powerful statements that are coded or should I say dripping with Marxist lineage. His resentment and negativity is exposed for those with the ears to catch it.

[@seancondon146]

This creep is the godfather of wokeness with his ridiculous dyed hair,probably to attract gullible young women

[@boilermaker1337]

I really think Giroux is completely lost in his own BS. The man has done an incredible amount of damage to the US education system and, through that, to the country. As is typical of people of his ilk, he constantly blames those who oppose him for the damage he has caused. Horrible. And, thank you, Lindsay.

[@luka2298]

@@borakurockie its not like he is hiding "the MaRxIsT LinEaGe" with some implicit subversive rethoric if you bothered to explore what Critical pedagogy is you would have known that it IS explicitly based on marxist principles and thats exactly what makes its so good in dealing with capitalist nightmare of a system. Of course there's negativity and resentment, you cannot really call yourself an intellectual until you feel nothing buy hate for capitalist neoliberal fiasco. Stupid ass bitch

[@stephenrohaim382]

Exactly this guy is at the core of the problem in our civilization currently, he is the one undermining it.

[@user-ys8ti3px4z]

I wonder what professor Giroux thinks of the Covid area we are going through. I live in Greece, and for the past 2 years we are experiencing the re-living of fascism.

[@somexp12]

Wondering what you mean. Is this about some strengthening of Elliniki Lisi (or something similar), or about government policies related to Covid? I've seen people mean either one (though I certainly don't endorse the latter), so it may not be clear what you're asking. In any case, Giroux is still giving interviews, so he's had occasion to mention Covid. So, there are resources to see what his take is on whichever item you're wondering about. What I've heard thus far from him (and there's probably more) is a resigned acceptance of public safety measures, but also a concern that distance learning impacts teachers' abilities to morally train students.

[@esquar8061]

He's got a lot of material on his twitter right now if you're interested in checking out his current thoughts

[@MultiBunnyhunter]

@@somexp12 you sound like an idiot

[@bereldovlerner5557]

Looking through the text of Bloom's *The Closing of the American Mind* I cannot find any passage supporting the accusation of racism made against him. If any else can, please give the quote and its page number in a response to this comment

[@bwanna23]

Henry looks as vibrant as he did 20+ years ago when I knew him.

[@dianej.3289]

Exactly what I say. WHERE IS THE OUTRAGE PEOPLE??????

[@juliafox52]

People well educated have been taught to control their "downstairs brain" through reason and logic, beauty and thought. What this man teaches is a thin veneer of good words over an agenda of pushing his Marxist agenda, which is one of the most unkind and jealousy based ideologies man has ever known. Over 150 million people have died at the hands of those possessed with this ideology. When will people learn that the ideas espoused are not the veneer, but the underlying hate?

[@juliafox52]

@Owen It is you who is misguided. Capitalism is a free exchange of goods. It has not killed anyone. Guessing you are a newly graduated college student who got good marks in your indoctrination courses. Smh.

[@juliafox52]

@Owen If you like Marxism so much, please go live in any number of socialist countries: North Korea, Cuba, Angola,...the list goes on and on. Take it from one who lived in such a country: only a fool would want this and I would not wish it upon my worst enemy!

[@juliafox52]

@Owen lol! Well, good marks for humor.

[@bentray1908]

It makes so much sense that postmodern activists would focus on education since they see knowledge best understood as an admixture of power and knowledge or “power-knowledge”. Hence, the focus is to infuse his will into knowledge production to make it services his will and world view. This world view doesnt hold space to ask critically, “am i deconstructing this structure to increase my institutional power”. “What aspect of knowledge is evolved for a good reason as it is helpful to the creation of human flourishing”.

[@tomcotter4299]

Put simply, he’s a self-serving hypocrite. ;)

[@prettyfuncomputing]

Thank you, Henry A. Giroux, and MacPherson Institute.

[@petercarrisoza4711]

Dr. Giroux is spot on! The 1% that controls this country that would like nothing more than to define education as test taking and rote memory of "facts". There is no place for critical thinking within this theory of pedagogy. The arts and the humanities would be done away with. There would be no space for criticizing of the system in their world. Nothing that might upset the status quo. Universities would produce only scientists, engineers and business people if they had their way. Public schools (Along with the Teachers Unions) would be done away with. Private schools would be out of reach for working class Americans. It would cement in place a perfect social caste system like India. As for Brazil and Latin America in general, the US has treated her southern neighbors as colonies since the days of the Monroe Doctrine. European countries were warned that the days of their colonizing the Americas were over. From that point on, the US took over as Empire over Central & South America. Time after time in Latin America (Brasil was among the first to fall victim), democratically elected governments have been overthrown with the help of the CIA. Puppet dictators, friendly to US corporations, have been installed. This goes on to this day as it did recently in the Honduras. The US was eager to recognize perpetrators of the 2015 coup as legitimate and looks away as indigenous environmental activist Berta Caceres is murdered. Any "social justice" movements by liberal educators, environmentalists, labor leaders or liberation theology minded clerics have been violently crushed under the pretext of "fighting communism".

[@Mitzoplick]

Public education should be about knowledge needed to provide for oneself, basically skills. A nation of activists may be very fair and equitable to each other, but nobody can farm or upkeep infrastructure.

[@pertjacanape]

@@Mitzoplick Athens peaked both culturally and artistically in the 5th century BC, then steadily declined from the 5th century onward. Her downfall coincided with the rights of citizenship, such as legal representation, being extended to non-Greeks living there. These domestic "foreigners" abused the Athenian legal system to disenfranchise the establishment. Change does not necessarily equal progress. Rhetoric and sophistry were purchased and availed of widely of by otherwise unaccomplished people seeking to deprive the wealthy of their land and possessions, as legal loopholes were now being successfully exploited by the resident aliens who had no allegiance to Athens but simply had been hired to write persuasive speeches now that the laws allowed them to do so on any Greek's behalf whether or not their client was a citizen.

[@friendlyfire7861]

" would like nothing more than to define education as test taking and rote memory of "facts"."---that is absolutely untrue. The Western classical liberal world created the idea of critical thinking and is the basis of real education. It's the neo-marxists like Giroux that want to drill in slogans like "diversity is our strength" without thought as to what that really means that are "doing away with" creative and critical thought. All they instill is an instinct to find fault and tear down, which is exactly what you are doing.

[@candlesnstones]

i feel this man is correct in what he says. hes passionate and i sense and share this sense of time or lack there of... i feel this urgency and i do not know how many of us grasp these issues. does anyone know what percentage of us able to articulate these issues inside and outside the usa because this is global not local.... this will be a global battle

[@juliafox52]

Think. Think! Feeling is downstairs brain; thinking is upstairs brain. Executive functioning skills are fast becoming out of fashion in a society which handed over the reigns of education to Marxist rabble-rousers.

[@davidpeppers551]

@@juliafox52 Yeah. Just hand it over to the wealthy and the corporations? I'm sure they only have our best interests at heart. Where is your upstairs here, fearmonger? Don't do the work of the oligarchs for them, Julia. Rabble is what they call the rest of us, thar would probably include you. Did you have a problem with holding power accountable? People being able to think? People having spaces for freedom of discussion? That all people ought to have real access to education? That people should be a real part of their own education? That people should have agency? That power inequities restrict freedom? That people ought to question existing structures of power or authority? That they should learn how to think and not what to think? I think you can do better than that.

[@juliafox52]

@@davidpeppers551 Have you purposefully misunderstood my comment or do you simply not grasp the difference between thinking and feeling? If you'd like to be outraged, go do it with someone else and not make my comment into a strawman. If you want to have a thoughtful discussion, don't put words into my mouth with which to fight.

[@davidpeppers551]

@@juliafox52 Purposefully misunderstood is an interesting phrase. Perhaps you mean pretending to misunderstand? Or feigning a misunderstanding? A misunderstanding is a wrong understanding. If I understand that is deliberate. That makes sense. If I don't understand, it could be from no effort, but not understanding due to lack of trying is not the same as trying to come up with the wrong understanding. An exact match of understanding is unlikely. I read your comments in light of Terry's comments and the video and your own words. I was simply trying to sort it all out.

[@juliafox52]

@@davidpeppers551 Now we are getting somewhere: you talk for you and I talk for me. To clarify my comment: I was not harping on the content of the OP's message, but sending a warning: such uncritical use of the word "feel" is the first step in the downfall. That is not to say OP had nothing of value to say and I in fact hold nothing against his general premise. However, "feeling" over "thinking" is dangerous and need be kept in check as much as possible. We are in agreement on a great deal. Would you like further clarification or discussion? Happy to engage, but only when thoughtful, not emotional as emotions are so easily manipulated and lead to chaos.

[@FarajRemmo]

THANK YOU ! SPAS ! DANKE ! MERCI ! شكرآ

[@ElizabethThomsenfilmmaker]

Could I have a transcript or script please? :)

[@mimimamomo10]

He has at great essay in "Academic Repression: Reflections from The Academic Industrial Complex", too

[@kaddisonturner9679]

I copied the transcript for this. I'd be happy to send it to you.

[@carolyncaffreyiii6008]

ooh, me too please K Addison Turner? Thank you!!

[@sarisimas]

@@kaddisonturner9679 Hello, I would also like to get the transcript please.

[@HomeschoolProf]

1. Click the three dots next to "save" under the video 2. Click "open transcript". 3. Copy the text. You can also toggle the timestamps (upper right corner of the transcript window).

[@y8r113]

This guy is really smart. He sees more of the big picture than a lot of people do. For people who are truly, closely listening to what he's saying are probably plagued with anxiety and nervousness. He's right, a lot of creative institutions in our society are being methodically replaced with zombie, non-critical cultures and structures.

[@Violet-gh5nw]

Same here. The more we know, the more anxious we are.

[@friendlyfire7861]

Wrong. He is looking through a keyhole and has a fundamentally limited and dogmatic view of education.

[@rohinipatel5840]

awesome lecture, so well articulated.

[@cwarren165]

hear! hear!

[@danremenyi1179]

Why so few views?

[@tianyili6379]

come here for writing 39C

[@karin1616]

What would it take to educate the young generation to challenge authority...wonderful

[@stephenrohaim382]

Hilarious thanks to this man and his like there is hardly anything more authoritarian than the kids coming out of Unis, they hate free speech more than anything.

[@friendlyfire7861]

33:00 I love how he talks about how South America and Chile (among others) are "mobilizing" now that socialism was soundly rejected in Chile and that Argentina now has liberatrian Milei. South American thinkers have been rejecting socialism for a long time, and the people in general only vote for socialists *knowingly* for their short-term benefit, but they know it's a scam. The only place where socialism has any hold is in the Western, primarily English-speaking world. It's they who are behind the times, and hopefully this recent explosion of Marxism at every level is a last desperate gasp because *it needs to go.*

[@TawongaMusuku]

everytime its in the public interest it will fail

[@leealexander3507]

Although I there is a lot not to like about rural America at least we have community.

[@bentray1908]

Interactional?

[@freefirehokagetv6331]

Pinanood ko LNG kac Kailngan ng reflection...Pramis hahahaha

[@cjduymm260]

anong nilagay mo sa reflection mo??

[@freefirehokagetv6331]

@@cjduymm260 may description nman about sa video..Intindihin mo LNG un ... D ko na pinanuod ang haba kc e

[@fredpauser6228]

A man of honesty, much appreciated.

[@sudawaabqurux423]

The future and security of humanity rest in the mind of men like this one, the great Henry a Giroux. When will the 1% realize that we are all on the same boat. May Allah swt bless and guide Henry a Giroux and rescue him from hell fire..ameen.

[@johnnytocino9313]

Where is the outrage? Em hem 2020.

[@eroceanos]

Yeah, interest on credit… it concentrates wealth and POWER… and now we got fucked.

[@AlazaisAllDay]

Key take away, "academics don't know how to dance." 28:00:00

[@dhrubamaharjan9610]

A prolific educator. Would love to meet him some day.

[@hassanadam3321]

Henry Giroux nail it awesome. There is hope as long people like Henry exist. God bless you and guide you to the right path. Amen

[@rushparul]

thank you dr giroux

[@operaguy1]

Dear Marx. How do you answer young challengers who ask "but everyone would have to become NewMarxistMan, pure egalitarians voluntarily, and the 'state' would have to wither away. Can that happen?"

[@nadraabdi7867]

43:40 onwards for me

[@AudioPervert1]

Super ideas and super reinforcing values ..

[@JasonRoggasch]

JOHN TAYLOR GATTO

[@paxnorth7304]

Well done.

[@abelflores1593]

Young people need to mobilize and get rid of all those old people in Washington

[@stephenrohaim382]

Everyone still sane needs to mobilize to get rid of the people like Girou and the sickness in academia.

[@abelflores1593]

@@stephenrohaim382 yes there are power in numbers

[@manai7007]

His passionate fire burns as hot as it did when he was a kid. I'm only 29 and way too cynical about our odds. What a speaker. What a human.

[@Faustus_de_Reiz]

See this is the problem with anyone who does critical analysis, the constant contradictions. He starts this analysis off by saying that the free market is anti-governmental, and in the same sentence says that war is how resources are allocated. Private firms are not going to war, that is a function of the government. If the free marketers are opposed to the government why then would there be a function to use the government for war? Yet, he can blindly slag together competing ideologies and say they're all a single entity without a single reference to the problems of its contradictory form.

[@andyfryett7153]

Chomsky speeded up.

[@Lakridza67]

I love this man! I want him to run the world💯

[@itsmorphed6416]

Like some sort of radical dictator ? He's completely insane.

[@nmarks]

Meritvote. kzbin.info/www/bejne/nIqVmHiVbdSMmpo

[@Zzyzzyx]

He's not speaking to be understood. This is not teaching; he's proclaiming, ranting, using big words and pat phrases to say ... nothing.

[@dwwolf4636]

Those who can, do. Those who can't, Critique everything into the Ashes of Civilisation. Begone poverty peddlers. We know where this leads.

[@GaryAskwith1in5]

He would have more agency if he did a Michele Foucault & got rid of the wig!

[@kaddisonturner9679]

Facts

[@paxnorth7304]

He's bringing it back you Phillistine. Teen girls will be rocking that shit in a few years just like the fanny pack.

[@terrybest7534]

hahahaha

[@Rob1066-]

I don't like oppressive corporatism either. Lowes and Home Depot cancelled the small town hardware store. Walmart cancelled everything else. . But higher education dug it's own grave by gatekeeping out any conservative faculty in the humanities. I would have been a Russian language and literature professor, but you guys would rather give Yoel Roth a PhD for his dissertation of his Grindr dates. You needed to share with conservatives. You traded close reading of Tolstoy and Dostoevsky short stories, even in the original Russian, for identity politics as academic discipline. And now you express horror as the target of academic identity politics take up identity politics ourselves. What did you expect? Conservative faculty would have already sounded the alarm about student loans an excessive spending by universities. We would have curbed your excessive even if we made you uncomfortable. But you didn't want us around you purged us all and so academia is all liberals and lefties. The academia that you've created will not survive in its current form. It's going out of business because of the insane student loans and you can rant all you want you didn't do anything about it except demand student loan. Austerity is coming to America. Student loans are going to be cancelled all right and so will your cushy jobs. Life is tough out here brace yourself. Winter is coming.

[@thediamondcreeper7566]

Join our Marxist cult!

[@nynoah]

I swear he sounds like a tent preacher calling out evil using word salad to fool the rubes into awe. It’s so cult like.

[@kieranh2005]

Marxism is a cult.

[@pillbox1240]

I support nuclear warfare as a way to get a public school system

[@QuarrelsomeLocalOaf]

Posadism-pedagogy! lmao

[@youtubeuser-7098]

a living god.

[@tklimson]

Education is not about activism, nifty words, neologisms and political preferences, education is about developing practical skills to succeed in a very complex world so we can rely less on really smart people with shiny diplomas who still don't know what they don't know.

[@AstroSquid]

I wonder if a speech of Hitler's would sound like this. He was claiming Social Justice as well. Henry's racist towards white people for a starter.

[@user-cn6dz3jb7h]

Any doctrine and any criticism are no usefulness

[@alabama2uz]

I watching schools fail kids in real time. Thanks guys.

[@AstroSquid]

Funny, he thinks he fighting totalitarianism.

[@mgkos]

He thinks HE’S. There’s an apostrophe there & the need for use of the present possessive. Now what were you saying about being educated in definitions of totalitarianism?

[@AstroSquid]

@@mgkos lol, totalitarianist's, like to use shame, or some other methods of having "more" rights over another person. In your case it might be typos, lol.

[@mgkos]

@@AstroSquid 🤦🏼‍♀️ missing link

[@stephenrohaim382]

he is the totalitarian for sure.

[@rp3703]

Marxist alert

[@stevenlightfoot6479]

Critical pedagogy is simply bad news. Get it out of the education system.

[@luka2298]

Get yourself out of any system

[@friendlyfire7861]

@@luka2298 Wow, amazing comeback luka. You musta gone to coooladge.

[@brandgardner211]

Total and absolute crap -- meaningless vague pretentious slogans absolutely lacking in intellectual content. Every word is rubbish, including "and" and "the". Where did they ever get this clown?

[@jasontito7644]

enough with the communists crap already