PAULO FREIRE: POSSIBILITIES FOR DIALOGIC COMMUNICATION IN A MARKET-DRIVEN INFORMATION AGE

This essay examines the legacy and challenges of Paulo Freire's ideas for a world abounding in information and communication or, in the case in this essay, representational technologies. Will these technologies help foster possibilities of emancipatory articulation or further the voiceless oppression of the marginalized? Can they do so outside the context of a radical struggle? The unorthodox argument in this essay leans toward emancipatory possibilities within a market-driven information age, albeit where these technologies help to foster dialogues and the interlocutors comprehend the implications of technology. A brief intellectual biography of Freire provides the praxis of his ideas: it emphasizes the development context of Freire's work and the way his activism intersected with his intellectual reflections. Next, Freire's ideas regarding dialogic communication, a call to social action, are presented. The essay then explores the implications of Freire's work within the context of two reference points rooted in communication technologies: representational technologies in general are examined followed by a discussion of the Internet. A concluding critique highlights shortcomings in the Freire influenced participatory action research (PAR) and argues against an a priori dismissal of markets.