Freire’s First Critic:
An Interview with Carlos Alberto Torres
In Part One of our conversation Torres tells stories about his background in Argentina and the influence not only of Freire but also of the Jesuit priest, teacher, and liberation theologian Carlos Mugica (1930-1974), who was assassinated by the dictatorship. Mugica’s last words, “Now more than ever, we must be with the people,” resonate with the liberation movements of that time and now.
In Part 2 Torres talks about the origins and work of the UCLA Paulo Freire Institute in social justice education. He discusses his many influences (Gramsci, Marx, liberation theology, Alves, Dussell, Habermas, Bourdieu, Illich, Rawls, Dewey, Gadotti, to name a few), and the new theoretical directions of his graduate students in ecopedagogies and anarchist pedagogies.
From his discipline of the sociology of education, Torres exposes the dilemmas of global citizenship, and the role institutions of higher education play in perpetuating the status quo. In a meeting with Freire soon before his death, Freire gave Torres a second mantra: “We have to confront neoliberalism as the new demon of our times.” Torres shares with us ways to head this call to equity, empowerment, and freedom.
about our guest/s
Carlos Alberto Torres is Professor of Social Sciences and Comparative Education at UCLA (2009-present), past Director of the UCLA Latin American center (1995-2005) and founder of the Paulo Freire Institute in São Paulo, Brazil (with Freire in 1991), Buenos Aries, Argentina, and UCLA (since 2002). Prof. Torres is also President of the World Council of Comparative Education Societies (WCCES). He is the author of numerous articles and books, including Social Theory and Education (with Robert Allan Morrow; SUNY Press, 1995), Comparative Education: The Dialectics of the Global and the Local (with Robert Arnove; Rowan & Littlefield, 2013, and the editor of First Freire: Early Writings in Social Justice Education (Teachers College Press, 2014). He has written short stories and poetry and is also an accomplished gardener and woodworker. A complete list of his background, research and accomplishments can be found on his website, https://carlosatorres.com/
resources
Websites:
Carlos Alberto Torres’ website: https://carlosatorres.com/
UCLA Freire Institute Blog: http://pfiucla.blogspot.com/
UniFreire (São Paulo): http://www.paulofreire.org/unifreire
Freire Institute (United Kingdom): http://www.freire.org/
Books & Articles:
Here are only a few of his many writings:
Torres, Carlos Alberto. Theoretical and Empirical Foundations of Critical Global Citizenship Education. New York: Routledge, 2017.
Torres, Carlos Alberto. First Freire. Early Writings in Social Justice Education. New York, Teachers College Press, 2014.
Torres, Carlos Alberto. Political Sociology of Adult Education. Rotterdam, Sense Publishers, 2013.
Torres, Carlos Alberto. Globalizations and Education. Collected Essays on Class, Race, Gender, and the State. Introduction by Michael W. Apple, Afterword by Pedro Demo. New York: Teachers College Press-Columbia University, 2009.
Torres, Carlos Alberto. Education and Neoliberal Globalization. Introduction by Pedro Noguera. New York, and London, Routledge, 2009.
Torres, Carlos Alberto and Pedro Noguera (Editors). Social Justice for Teachers: Paulo Freire and Education as a Possible Dream. The Hague, The Netherlands, Sense Publishers, 2009.
Carlos Mora Ninci and Guillermo Ruiz (Compiladores) Carlos A. Torres et al. La sociología política de la educación en perspective internacional y comparada. Las contribuciones de Carlos Alberto Torres. Buenos Aires, Miño y Dávila, 2008.
Herrera, Linda, and Carlos Alberto Torres, eds. Cultures of Arab Schooling: Critical Ethnographies from Egypt. New York, SUNY Press, 2006.
Rhoads, Robert A. and Carlos Alberto Torres, eds. The Political Economy of Globalization: The University, The State and Market in the Americas. Stanford University Press, 2005.
Torres, Carlos Alberto. “Comparative Education: The Dialectics of Globalization and Its Discontents.” Pp. 446-461 in Comparative Education: The Dialectic of Global and the Local. 2nd Ed. Eds. Robert F. Arnove and Carlos Alberto Torres. Lanham, MD: Rowan & Littlefield, 2003.