Encounters between the ‘oppressed’ and the ‘oppressor’: rethinking Paulo Freire in anti-racist feminist education in Sweden

Abstract

With the aim of rethinking Paulo Freire’s theory and its practices in race/ethnicity and education, this article uses intersectionality to deepen our understanding of differences among the oppressed and break the opposition between the oppressed and oppressor. Based on an ethnographic study carried out at a feminist adult educational institution in Sweden, the author examines the positionality of migrant students and feminist teachers and how they react to othering in the educational process and in Swedish society. The author also argues for the importance of intersectionality as a way to help both the conscientization of the oppressed and the radical task of the liberatory teachers. It is crucial to untangle gendered and sexualized racism, especially in specific contexts where race and gender intersect to construct a binary between a ‘superior us’ and a ‘barbaric Other.’ Conscientization and intersectionality are particularly useful for probing the complicated processes of othering and combating different forms of oppression and racism in an era of globalization in Western countries.

Keywords:

• difference
• othering
• conscientization
• anti-racist feminist education
• intersectionality
• migrants
• Paulo Freire

Notes on contributor

Notes

1. All the names in the article are pseudonyms. Some teachers made use of the phrase ‘a room of one’s own’ to refer to this school, and so I followed this usage and called this school ‘Women’s Room’ in this article. I have not mentioned the real name of the school or put Women’s Room’s website in the reference intentionally, to keep it anonymous. Nevertheless, it is difficult fully maintain its anonymity since it is one of the few women-only adult educational institutions in Sweden.

2. A brief introduction of folk high schools, i.e., high schools for adults, see the following section.

3. This statement was made by Mona Sahlin, who was the integration Minister when a so-called ‘honour killing’ happened in 2002 (similar political rhetoric see Kamali 2009, 144–165). This event was mentioned in the teaching processes in Women’s Room, which I will discuss later in this article.

4. McCall (2005, 1771) defines intersectionality as an analytical concept that examines ‘the relationships between multiple dimensions and modalities of social relations and subject formations.’

5. This movement began in a historical context in which ordinary people did not have access to education and politics since these were restricted to the upper classes in Swedish society. Dissatisfied with the situation, many people formed study groups in order to have face-to-face discussions and to gain knowledge to change the society. There were many social movements under the popular movement, such as the free churches movement, the temperance movement, and the labor movement (Enström and Holmegaard 1996)

6. The study allowance for migrants is a predetermined amount of money offered to those who are between the age of 20 and 54 and who are studying at least half-time at senior high schools, folk high schools, Municipal adult educational institutions, colleges, or universities. For example, those who study full-time at folk high schools for three years can get a maximum of 120 weeks of study allowance. http://www.csn.se/lattlast/studiestod/studiestod-utlandsk-medborgare (accessed 1 June 2012).

7. The newest definition by Swedish Statistics Bureau after 2002 is a person who was born in a foreign country or a person with both parents born in a foreign country. http://sverigesradio.se/sida/artikel.aspx?programid=1646&artikel=3,999,603 (accessed 1 June 2012).

8. The term ‘first language’ means mother tongue or home language. For native Swedish people, their home language is also the language used in schools and society. For migrants, there is education available in ‘Swedish as a second language’ since Swedish is not their first language but is the language used in mainstream society.