ABSTRACT
Unlike community development, with its roots in the developed countries, conscientisacion has its roots very much in the developing world, specifically in Latin America. The term itself ‘refers to learning to perceive social, political, and economic contradictions and to take action against the oppressive elements of reality’. 1 Freire believed that education provided the answer, on the basis that
‘every human being, no matter how ignorant or submerged in the “culture of silence” he may be, is capable of looking critically at his world in a dialogical encounter with others [and that] provided with the proper tools for such an encounter, he can gradually perceive his personal and social reality as well as the contradictions in it, become conscious of his own perceptions of that reality, and deal critically with it’. 2
The philosophy behind conscientisacion proposes a cultural, rather than a physical revolution, as cultural invasion is one of the major tools of oppression. This strong cultural focus leads Freire to describe the conscientisacion process as ‘dialogical cultural action’ 3 which in turn has four constituent elements: co-operation, organization, cultural synthesis and unity for liberation. 4 All four elements are essential to the success of conscientisacion.