ABSTRACT
Developing critical pedagogy requires conjoining committed adherents in a discourse dedicated to the Idea of communism, formulating and debating ideas about communism and pedagogy, and asserting an intellectual line of argument (inside and outside communist fora) that pragmatically accounts for the problems of power, authority and social change. This debate assumes an immanent logic in the development of communist ideals and practices and relates to the production of communist theology, world-views, philosophies, historical materialisms and social theories; the identification of political ideologies, identities, and interests; and the formulation of insights on appropriate strategies and tactics. However, there are three key problems in the development of critical pedagogy within a pragmatic communist paradigm related to questions of power, authority and social change. For power there is a tension between personal enlightenment versus social enlightenment; for authority there is the contradiction between enlightenment which presupposes unequal authority) versus egalitarianism which presupposes equal ignorance); and, for the relationship between the theory and practice of communism, there is the transition from a liberal democratic society to a communist society.
