9780847683543

Ideology Matters

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ISBN 10: 0847683540 / 0-8476-8354-0
ISBN 13: 9780847683543
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Pub Inc
Publication Date: 2009
Binding: Softcover
Editorial Reviews:
Synopsis:

With the fall of the Berlin Wall many conservatives proclaimed the end of ideology. Others, like Boston University President John Silber, publicly pride themselves for "keeping ideology out of the university". In Ideology Matters, Paulo Freire and Donaldo Macedo challenge the denial of ideology in the construction of race, gender, ethnicity, class, language, and other derisive social categories. Refusals to acknowledge the central role of ideology are an ideological act in themselves, part of a web of lies that not only distorts reality but also robs individuals of the necessary critical tools to become full participants in our fragile democracy. Discussing social complexities at the end of this century, including ethnic cleansing, culture wars, hegemony, human sufferings, and intensified xenophobia, Freire and Macedo explain why it is essential that we gain a nuanced understanding of how ideology underlies all social and political discourse and actions. Consequently, it is imperative that we appreciate what it means to educate for critical citizenry in the ever increasing multiracial and multi-cultural world of the twenty-first century.